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?

Yes, it’s two days and we’ll manage but we’re simply not set up for heat here.

And here we go again!!! What makes you think that every country which gets a hot day or two is "set up for heat"? There have been some very sensible posts on this thread, but it seems many are far too obsessed with ridiculous comments like the one above to read them!!

I agree with this. The projections about rising temperatures have been around for years and this was predicted (as was the likelihood of a pandemic but that's for another thread). Why has nothing been done if we truly can't cope on a national level? At least though, unlike covid, for now this is only two days. Most of the issues people are worrying about come from spells of prolonged heat. By Wednesday this will be old news!

My sister headed north, from 26 to 22 degrees.

I'm stuck in the red zone, it was 27 Saturday, 32 yesterday before two days of 38 forecast. Day after day of it is wearing.

27 and 32 are not especially unusual summer temperatures though. We get a spell of that most years

You're off sick and lounging around, playing on your phone?!
Get a grip. Get dressed and go into work. We have to in the UK!
Snowflake.

I dislike dismissing people as 'snowflakes' (rude, lazy cliché that tends to dilute subsequent messages) but have to agree about the media.
Since covid its been one after another instance of whipping people up into a frenzy about one thing after another, that seems to just peter out when the next thing emerges. (Presumably now it's hot we don't have to worry about a nuclear attack and 16 year olds being conscripted anymore?)
I don't think people can be blamed for becoming worried about something they're constantly told is a risk. A return to more sensible, proportionate and objective reporting is long overdue.

We lived in NZ for 5 years, and it got hot BUT we had a pool, air conditioning, our house was built for the heat and we had a slow build up over summer usually, which is quite different to what we’re experiencing here.

Don’t be smug OP, it’s really irritating, hence why you’re getting the responses you are.

I wouldn't find it hot, I know the houses aren't built for it (like ours for the cold). I often come home at Christmas, which is a shock to the system coming from 30's to freezing, but I just get wrapped up and get on with it I don't refuse to do anything because it's 'too cold'

People posting frequently about this on MN are going to be the more worried ones though OP. Where I am in SW England most people are just taking sensible precautions and then getting on with it. But I think in making comparisons about adapting to colder temperatures versus adapting to hotter temperatures people are forgetting some basic physics. The human body has evolved with a core temperature of around 37 degrees and only one degree either side of that. Some fundamental chemical reactions start at not much above that - proteins become 'denatured' at around 42/ 43 degrees. So it is vital that your body stays below that temperature.

Dip from 30 to 20 degrees and it's fairly easy to retain your body's heat by wearing extra clothing. But once the temperature is in the 30s it's extremely difficult, if not impossible, to reduce your body's temperature. So going up from 30 to 35 or 40 degrees is radically different from dropping by the same temperature. It's not a case of 'brr, I'll put a coat on' it's a case of being subject to some fairly brutal physiological changes.

Add in the media stirring things up because it detracts from the Conservative shit show and you have the perfect storm.

I am sure if hot spells become more frequent /hotter/ longer we will start to adjust to it. But its a bit of a faff to structure things around unusual events.

As time goes on people will remember, oh it helps in the bin crews go early in hot days and have plans they can just dust off from last year.

I dont think heat is different in the uk or we are special but i do think that for many people in the red zone this will be the hottest temperature they have personally experienced.

I will have a coat or cardigan on as standard. I'm not from a hot country, I'm from Scotland. My blood circulation is utterly pants though, and while I wouldn't feel pain at 24 degrees (unless it was windy with wind chill factor to take into account, hence the coat...) I certainly do at temps of 22 and less. My blood just stops going to my extremities. I'm well aware I'm the anomaly and most people's inner thermostats work properly as the norm!

It was 34 degrees in our garden yesterday. I love it and stayed outside as much as I could because the house actually felt cold (ten degrees cooler) and I had to stick a fleece on top of my t-shirt when doing things in the kitchen. So wearing leggings and a hoodie at 24, yep.

I do feel very sorry for people who are struggling and feeling ill in the heat though, it's not like there's a lot of options to escape it, is there? You can't spend all day in Sainsbury's...

I think some people are over reacting unless they have something like COPD, like cancelling going into work etc. The news here is full of advice about being extremely careful, so I don’t think it’s fair to see people are over reacting, when you have no air con you aren’t getting a break from the heat, it’s not pleasant. When you live in a hot climate like you do there’s a slow build up and you acclimatise. Many people in the U.K. have never been overseas and have never seen temperatures like 40 degrees. You’re getting these reactions as your post comes across very smug and condescending

Ok I'll bite (again). This attitude is why people have had such a strong reaction to your post.

This thread has really made me feel so much better about my choice live overseas

i think there are a few people on here thinking exactly the same thing…

its going to be about 30 here and i only took the duvet off on Saturday so i doubt I’ll personally be bothered much

there is no hysteria on here and people aren’t snowflakes, but as others mentioned there are some very good reasons as to why more people will struggle here in a short but very very out of character period of extreme temperature

Just because you don't think it's too hot doesn't mean other people can't find it too hot. What a bizarre thread. 🤷🤣

I also don't get the mass panic about cars suddenly breaking down. Are they made differently to the cars in other countries?? Is there a special factory that makes cars for the uk that says can't operate above 30 degrees but the cars for the rest of the world can.

I wondered about that too. I even read on one thread, not sure if it was this one, that the British clothes are not designed for heat. Now that one really has me puzzled.

If one more person posts about insulation I will scream. What does the wonderful UK education system actually teach people?

The TL:Dr version of what I said upthread would be this:

Naked humans have a thermoneutral zone of 25 to 29 degrees. That's the range at which you can maintain your internal temperature with minimal metabolic regulation. Below that, it's easy enough to put extra layers of clothing on. You're not having to make metabolic changes. Above that, and to adjust to the heat, you have to adjust your metabolism.

So you can't compare adjusting downwards to adjusting upwards.

How would where you live cope with a two deluge of snow?

Do you think everything would just run as normal or would the unusual weather change things a bit?

I'm in NZ and have neither pool nor air con! I totally get that hot days must be more tolerable here than UK though. Ie I do have a big deck and backyard with lots of trees, live 10 minutes from an outdoor pool with loads of shade around it, my office is air conditioned, last time it hit 40c where I live I just took my kids to the mall for a couple hours because it's air conditioned, etc etc.

But I've seen people post on here that they live in flats with no outdoor area, no offices or shops are air conditioned, they have to take public transport without air conditioning, plus the effect of more built up areas in general creating heat islands- so I can understand that it must be tough when you have no means to get out the heat even for an hour or two!

Disagree with this. Buildings designed to be thermally efficient tend to be so in both directions. Case in point, mum in laws house in hills of Cyprus. 100 year old, 2 foot thick walls. Warm in winter (regularly get snow). Cool (relatively) in Summer, where same location usually mid 30s July and August.

My house in Cyprus, built circa 2000. Like most recent builds in Cyprus (and Turkey, etc) constructed of single layer breeze block. Insanely cold on Winter. Boiling hot Summer. No, hot countries are not necessarily "set up" for warmer temperatures. We just learn to live with it.

I'm just sat here wondering, if you're thousands of miles away in a different hot country living your best life, why you give a flying fuck what Sandra in number 36 is saying about the heat here in the UK? To help my understanding, can you please explain how it impacts you if someone here in the UK wants to have a bit of a moan about the fact they're too hot and haven't slept well/been up all night with the kids due to heat?

Well done for being great at coping with heat OP. I'd give you a medal, but the one that has your name on it is unfortunately currently melting in our UK heatwave because its a real snowflake like the rest of us Brits. Apologies.

Come and stay in my tiny south facing, top floor studio flat and see how well you manage then🙄

Nothing cancelled here.

All I've done is put two fans downstairs with all the blinds/curtains closed. Left lots of bowls of water out. This is for my dogs and one really struggles in hot weather. I don't think she'd like living in the tropics to be honest.

I'm not sure why you have got leggings and a hoody on, seems very dramatic and odd in 24 degrees.

I’ve had family contacting me from Asia and the states asking how we are coping

I’ve lived in countries that regularly reach 40 but it’s different (and no have not always had air con)

life is adapted around expecting such temperatures, building that keep out heat ours keep heat in, no carpets, shaded roads, some places working around particular hours or starting work earlier

we need to adapt and be sensible but for us as a country it’s more difficult to handle as it would be if some countries suddenly had much colder weather than they are used to dealing with

@FlorenceOrTheMachine I've mentioned this a few times when people have stated as fact how the houses are designed for the heat. Yes the old stone cottages and huge airy million euro villas are. The modern flats and homes thrown up left right and centre by greedy developers certainly have none of that. I never had and didn't know anyone with shutters on their windows or heavy stone, my flooring was laminate and not a ceiling fan in site. Big glass doors that you're meant to keep closed according to advice here but turned your home in to a greenhouse 😆.

I’ve seen countless amounts of content from none brits in Britain at the moment, saying they can’t believe the HEAT for a temperature that in their home country wouldn’t be a big deal, we’re talking about people who lived in places where it frequently hits 35+.

it’s suffocating here