To think it can't be that hot?

[Hop27]

I live in the tropics, we have long periods of hot weather. It's winter with us and it's 24 degrees. I'm in bed at the moment with long PJ's on. (At home sick) and will probably spend the day in leggings and a hoodie. Browsing through mumsnet, thread upon thread about how it's too hot to eat, to sleep, people canceling plans because of the heat! Even in the height of our summer (mid to high 30's) I don't think I've ever not made dinner or cancelled plans. AIBU to think it can't be that hot, or have I been away from the British summer for too long?

So you have air-con and have acclimatised. Did you think about things before posting?

Leggings and hoodie in 24 degrees? Sure.

I've clearly hit a nerve with how rude most people have been!

Well to be fair, you did make a very silly thread and miss quite a number of very obvious points.

‘In the tropics’ It’s Hyacinth Buket😀

It’s been a nice hot summer for a week. Like we get every single year .
We haven’t had a hosepipe ban yet because it rained so much in the spring and early summer.
Its two days and most of us won’t hit the record 40 degrees. If we have a breeze you might not even notice the heat. It will depend on if the sun is out or we have that clammy heat.

It's not just about whether or not homes have aircon, it's about railway tracks, roads, things that have not been built with regular temperatures of 35-42 degrees in mind because until this week we simply haven't been getting these temperatures, never mind regularly.

Acclimatisation really is true. When I lived in northern Scandinavia (above the Arctic circle) I was perfectly happy at -25 degrees and -7 seemed too hot...in fact, at -7 I would sleep with no heating on and the window open!

Coming back to the UK it took me two years just to get used to having temperatures of 20+ degrees in the summer (although it's true I really don't like warm weather anyway). But even now I'm more used to a normal English summer, I certainly can't cope with 30-40 degrees. If I lived in a tropical country for the next two years, I have no doubt my body would adjust, but most Brits facing the next two days' heat haven't done that, and yes, it is unprecedented.

In addition, other posters saying the UK isn't set up for such temperatures are correct. Since when did the UK have siesta time in the hottest part of the day like in Spain, Italy etc? Most of us Brits at work will have to work right through the midday and mid-afternoon heat, not have a lie down half way through. We have heat-retaining houses and no air con as standard, my flat is built to catch the daytime sun and has windows which don't allow a breeze to circulate at all....

I really don't think people coming on to say heat, what heat? are being very helpful at all.

My daughter had a power cut last night. She has two primary aged children and a puppy. No fans for them last night.

I'd rather have a hundred "panicky" threads than one more like this with zero empathy or thoughts for other people.

YABU

I used to live in the tropics and it was regularly 40 degrees and over and very, very humid. I coped with it fine because when it got too hot, I pulled my day curtains across to keep out the sun, put my ceiling fans or aircon on, went down the pool in my condo and kept hydrated with water and calamansi juice.

Back here in the UK, we are not geared up for heat, nor cold TBH. However, the heat is absolutely HORRIBLE in the UK. DH and I have agreed that we love it here when it is 18 - 24 and sunny but anything over that is grim.

You've clearly not seem people walking around the streets of UK cities in coats in 24 degrees then. If you speak to them you normally find they have just recently come from a hot country and find the UK summer cold.

Spain and Portugal are currently reporting around 1000 deaths linked to the current heatwave. Sure, we’re not reacting to the heat in the same way as we would if we were in the Tropics but there are genuine concerns and it will negatively affect many people so if we can adjust our routines to be a bit more comfortable and safe then that’s a good thing, not sure what’s so confusing about it.

@TheFridayRabbit

Houses designed to keep heat in also keep cold in

How many houses in warm countries have the vast amount of large glass windows/conservatories that UK houses have? If you think about the archetypal Greek house, very thick walls and very small windows.
When we holiday in France for example, they all have shutters, not big thick curtains like we have. Our houses are not designed for heat.
And it’s fair enough to say that houses designed to keep heat in also keep cold in, where’s the cold coming from? We don’t have a/c very often in this country.

Sigh.

20 degrees Celsius is the difference between a potential winter temperature (in my example) of, say, 25 degrees with maybe rain or clear sunshine and a breeze, and 5 degrees with wet, heavy snow, or clear skies and a nasty wind. That’s clearly a significant difference and you know it. You’re just being inflammatory. It’s exactly the same as the difference between the average UK summer temperatures of around 20 degrees and what some areas are forecast to get tomorrow. OP said in a follow up that where she is their houses aren’t that great for keeping heat in.

Stop being deliberately obtuse.

You’ve just said you’ve got aircon. And that you use it for 6 weeks twice a year, so 12 weeks in total. That’s a quarter of the year that you use your aircon. You’re in NO place to lecture people in the UK about whether we’re ill-equipped to deal with heat.

I don't care what you're doing in the tropics and posting this for your amusement.

Ye can get ter fuck.

God some nasty comments from stuck up posters on here.

It is very hot but people are panicking way too much, people talking about not going to work or keeping their kids out of school is ridiculous.

I live on a fairly new build so very well insulated , I barely have heating on in winter updtairs as it stays so warm.
Its been boiling in the bedrooms , very uncomfortable and we have fans going and all sorts , curtains and blind closed and only open open windows if there is a breeze or temp is lower , which there just hasn't been .
Its ridiculous other people saying in other countries we get these temp ,even spain issues warnings when they were due close on 40 , its like if austrailia got minus 2 all of a sudden , its not built for those temps, same as uk.
Luckily I work in a air con building but there will be lots of older people and those with health issues who will really struggle the next couple of days and anyone who can't see that its sounds very much like , well get on with it as IM alright jack

I don’t find Mumsnet representative of real life here. I don’t know anyone who is panicking and stressing about the heat. Most people just make a few small adjustments and go about their business as usual.

I also spent many years in hot countries with prolonged periods of extreme heat and I think humans can only acclimatize to a point. People were hot and adjustments were ingrained. Lots of people in hot places don’t have aircon or the kinds of houses that get talked about on here.

The media in this country is ridiculous for hyping any kind of weather event.

Exactly this. I’m somewhere very hot at the moment, hotter than London and it’s lovely……but at home it would be stiflingly horrendous. DPs are in London and they’re fine because they’re retired and can sit in the shade all day with the fan on. Working in this heat will be miserable.

I'm in the uk, I don't think it's that hot either.

This thread has really made me feel so much better about my choice live overseas.
The utter hysteria that I dare question how hot it is in the UK is ludicrous.
It's 2 days.
Not everyone in the UK will top 40deg.
You might be a bit hot but it's manageable, if you are fit and healthy then you will be fine. If your at risk then you should be getting care/support. If your not then that's another issue.
This has absolutely affirmed my point that there are so many overreactions to a ridiculously hot day, yes day. A snapshot in time that will be forgotten when there is a scattering of snow .....utterly ridiculous.

God you've set them all off again OP

Not strong enough in my opinion.

@TheFridayRabbit but you have con that you do use even for 12 weeks , if we had air con we could use for 2 days that would help
Im been abroad to enough hot european countries and there houses are built very different tO us , they don't all have aircon but they often have stone walls , tiled floors , shutters on winddows , ceiling fans , very very different to the uk
And OP are you aware the heat will kill some people ? So no need to be so flippant about it
Plus its very different kinds of heat from one country to the next
In reali life not mumsnet most people are just worried about the elderly or those with health conditions and just preparing what they can , iced water , curtains closed etc
Avoiding being out if possible but postmen , binmen all have to work and will be out in the hottest parts of the day so requests have been made local to us if people can fill their water bottles for them , so they stay hydrated etc
Our hospitals are already struggling and people being admitted due to heatstroke or illness caused by hot weather adds more pressure
If where you lived went to - 19 im sure many would struggle

Surely not more bollocks about how British homes are built to keep heat in- why are people so thick? Can't you think logically? Thick and insulated walls work both ways- if heat is on the outside it keeps it out, if comes from the inside it keeps it in! FFS!