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?

OP. Ignore them. Honestly , some unbelievably rude comments.

I agree with you. Totally scaremongering and utterly ridiculous.

In the words of Peter Kay, Have a solero and shut the fuck up! (not you, them!)

The thing is even in countries that have regular high temperatures most people don't enjoy the very hot days . My niece lives in a city that regularly gets to mid thirties temperatures in the summer and fairly frequently to 40+ degs. This isn't new and I remember visiting as a child in the summer and people sleeping out on the roofs ( which are admittedly mostly flat so yes infrastructure helps) but it still being too hot to sleep. Nobody likes temperatures of 40deg even if they are acclimatised to heat. Many people can't sleep well in that temperature.

The main difference is that people there don't spend too much time complaining about it, they might mention it but generally they just get on with their lives. The city I am referring to has temperatures of as low as -15 and lots of snow most winters so it isn't that they are only used to the heat. It is just that the weather is something to be endured and not to get in the way of your life

Do we have a flouncer? 🤭 Maybe winter in the tropics has got to her.

OP, ignore the nasty comments. People on here can be so rude.

Exactly. You wouldn't have got the replies you have had if your opening post wasn't holier than thou.

This:

"EmmaGrundyForPM · Today 07:52
To paraphrase something that's doing the rounds on FB
The government, the NHS and the Met Office are all advising people to stay at home if possible, to keep hydrated and to watch out for signs of heatstroke, but Bob has posted on Twitter that it's all a load of bollocks, and now I don't know who to believe"

There are a growing number of people who think criticising people who have spent years studying their chosen careers in science etc are wrong and since they have done their 'research' on YouTube they know better. They often use the words 'sheeple', 'plandemic', 'control' and mass hysteria. They seen to think they are better than others and are 'awake' or have their eyes 'open'.

Deluded but growing number. Quite often they appear to have no actual qualifications but often promote Youtube videos where the truth is shown.

Ok, imagine your little tropical paradise suddenly dropped to say -10degs. Would you be prepared for the the cold? Is your infra user up for cold westher? Would your public transport systems cope? Would your healthcare cope with an influx of people just getting on with it and being overcome with severe cold, hypothermia etc? I’m guessing not, and there might also be some hysterical reactions too.

You might be a bit hot but it's manageable, if you are fit and healthy then you will be fine.
Oh, you’re a meteorologist? I didn’t realise. Tell me then why the weather warnings say otherwise, that fit and healthy people are also at risk?

No one is saying everyone is at risk, and the country is going to fucking combust, but the risk is real, our infrastructure isn’t set up to support this heat (down to the materials used for the roads, train tracks etc). People are simply not used to this weather, it’s double the temperature and you’ve aclimatised to the weather, you can’t do that in a few hours. You’ve also got lots of accounts of people who have lived through mega hot weather in different counties but then have moved to the U.K. and can’t cope with the heat when it gets over 26/27 as it’s just different.

Is there hysteria? Of course some is, but there is also a real risk to people and shouldn’t we be mitigating risk at all times anyway? This idea that a weather warning is “hysteria” is bonkers, and it’s an attitude that’s lingered from COVID “I know best so fuck the experts”.

Where I work they spec the air on to keep the rooms cool at an ambient temp of 23c when the temps go above this the air on can’t cope. So looks like the guys at work are going to be in for a busy couple of days making sure our buildings don’t get to hot and start to affect the equipment inside

I’m struggling to understand the point of this thread op? It really comes across as you’re posting to tell British citizens in the uk how much better with heat your are in your air conditioned home?

that’s great hun.

It's called 'the consequences of starting a thread saying you know better than others about the country they're living in and you're not'.

This.

And also, in case this nuance passed you by, many replies are tongue in cheek written in response to your deliberately goady opening post.

Yes you made the right decision to live abroad since you’re a delicate flower who needs a hoodie at 24 degrees, which is higher than the average high in any month. You’d die of cold if you came back.

A bit part of why it's crap here (and yes it is other places too I don't think it's necessary to have a competition) is because of austerity maintenance on buildings and infrastructure has been to a ridiculously low level. Schools, hospitals are maintained to the very minimum standard- they don't fare well with extreme temps either way. Roads also aren't built with the necessary materials to stop them 'melting', same with train tracks as there's not usually much need. Countries that are often really hot there's a lot of info passed down as well on how to keep your home cool- so even discounting air con and the different build of homes to deal with the weather most people here don't have a clue.

OP, with all due respect, you've chosen to move away, so our hot weather and the way we deal with it or talk about it is none of your business.

Yeah it's very hot, 40 where we are. You will likely have a different humidity, more storms to break up the heat, a better infrastructure to deal with heat, and you will be really acclimatised to it. Presumably one of your main local train lines didn't spontaneously set on fire the other day either! So I'd much rather be where you are right now!!

None of that here, you'd be roasting and miserable in a central city location today.

I think what is worrying me about all of this is the idea of care/support if you're not coping with the heat.
If you're disabled, chronically ill or elderly.
Because there's fuck all support.
Massive numbers of vacancies for nurses, doctors, HCPs, carers
Covid is still a thing - not as bad as it was but still causing hospital admissions & more worryingly sickness amongst already stretched staff.
Oh & the NHS is basically not working at the mo - trying to catch up post-Covid, fewer staff (burn out & Brexit).
If there was immediate support for the vulnerable, in fact all of those that need it, then the situation would be much better.
But there isn't.

It's quite simple op, your acclimatise to the heat but we've gone from mid twenties to suddenly above 30s in some areas. We arnt acclimatise.

It is only for a few days but due to the fact we aren't acclimatised some of our elderly and younger children won't cope.

Its like when I went to South Africa for 3 weeks in their winter. I was in shorts and t shirts and they were in long sleeves and jumpers saying it was cold. Just the way it is

I think a lot of the issues are around the humidity levels on top of the heat. One scientist said the humidity levels could soar tomorrow and it may feel like working in a sauna all day. That's the dangerous bit - it causes problems with sweating which is your body's coolant.

And, as many have said, we aren't used to that heat here. Other countries may have air con, break for a long lunch, have shutters at windows (many Mediterranean homes have shutters and/or verandas to shade the windows and provide a place to sit out of the sun - most of our houses don't as we don't need them), people know what to do because it's normal. It's the lack of normality that will catch people out.

And don't forget 300 plus people have already died in Spain due to heat. Yes, that was over a prolonged period - but that's the thing, the prolonged period was not normal for Spain. It's the normality issue that will prove the problem. If we get these temperatures next year, most people will have learned.

Apparently some authorities have snow gritters ready to sand the motorways - because we don't know what will happen to our roads. Our tarmac mix is different to that used in hotter countries because ours has to cope with low temperatures/frost regularly. I remember coming home from secondary school in the 1976 drought, which had the highest temperature of about 36degrees somewhere in the UK, with tarmac melted onto the sole of my shoe. And my area didn't reach 36 degrees then. Again, a longer period of time but a lesser temperature.

And really OP, if you need a hoodie at 24 degrees you must really be unwell - that's t-shirt weather surely. That's a pleasant summer's day here. Or is it just that you're not used to it...like us in the UK with above 30 degree heat.

Maybe it would have been nicer for you to give us some tips as you manage so well in the regular heat. Not involving air con as most of us don't have it. Or swimming pools as we don't have them in every town let alone garden. Or siestas and not being out in the 11-3pm times as our jobs aren't set up like that. Our DS has break at 11am and lunch from 1pm - 1.45pm with over 2000 kids in the school. The school can't adjust much, as they can't stagger lunch and break for two days - it impacts on lessons obviously, the school can't magic up more shade so they'll be fighting for every tree shade and there's no air con in classrooms bar the computing block. Any tips?

OP, imagine if winter where you are dropped to 15 degrees below its usual level. The likelihood is that you and everyone around you would be talking about it and about how cold it was and how your houses weren't set up for that kind of weather. And none of you would be being unreasonable because that would be significantly colder than what you were used to, and sudden change is rough.

So then if a bunch of people from another country piled in and said "I just don't get it! It's not that cold! That's not even cold enough to be wearing a big coat, it gets much colder where I am so why are you all making such a fuss?" you might not feel very charitably inclined towards those people...

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

actually it has been hot for weeks. Where I live there has been no meaningful rain for a month.

Why are you on MN anyway? Find a local website to show your superiority on.

Oh and my friend who is over from Singapore with her family, has just text me to say she's sweltering.

I don't know of many 'panicking' however it's hit 30degrees at 10.30 near the Norfolk coast and we along with many of our neighbours have been without water since 6am. Our houses and systems aren't designed for heat as many have said, and we aren't acclimatised to it. I've dropped bottled water to five elderly neighbours who don't drive so there are very real concerns.

To be fair, it is a stupid title if nothing else

I've been living in hot countries for nearly a decade and I still haven't acclimatised. I hate the summer weather in the countries I've lived in and most people I know (locals included) feel the same. Every time you meet someone, the small talk is always 'its too hot!'. I've never met anyone who says 'Gosh, is it nearly 40 degrees?'. It's a drag for everyone.

Not everyone has air con. My last place didn't and the living room was like a conservatory. I would take my poor kids to the park at 7am and try to get the set up with a paddling pool on the balcony. My husband then booked us a weekend away at a famous region and their Airbnb had no aircon. I spent the night with a damp tea towel on my legs and intermittently wiped my sleeping kids foreheads as they were so hot. Its a myth that people in hot countries are just bobbing along in the heat because everything is set up for it.

People are still doing jobs where they have no access to air con. There are periods of time when the air con has to be turned off...we can't use our washing machine or dishwasher at the same time as our air con or our electric blows.

Every single day I think 'I hate this heat'. We have pretty cold winters too which I much prefer. Our home is always cosy in the winter so not sure why there is an assumption that homes in hot countries are purely designed to keep them cool. We go to the UK every summer and I'm always cold when I go back. I definitely wrap my kids up more and am shocked at the temperatures that local kids wear shorts in. I wouldn't have mine in bare legs at 15 degrees, but we aren't used to it.

Quick random memory: when I lived in the middle East, the temperature got to 9 degrees one winter. I was teaching there and the parents were demanding the schools shut as all their kids would get sick. Some parents sent their kids to school in tights in 30 degrees.

Sorry, don't know what the point to all that was!

I am from a tropical country, and now living in the UK. I find the heat much harder to deal with here. Back home there is AC everywhere - home, my school, offices, malls, cars. I was hardly ever out walking in the sun.

Even when I was in school, we had PE out in the sun in 30-35 degrees, but we were used to it so it wasn’t unbearable. Definitely not used to it here.