To take it back, people do need the obvious pointing out to them in the heat

[HeleenaHandcart]

I’ve been thinking it’s all a bit Over the top, the heat fuss.

But no, some idiot at 3:20 pm walked their medium size dog pass my house (London, hot hot). Dog was very reluctant and she was totally confused as to why, pulling the lead.

My kids beat me too it,
12 yr old ‘it’s too hot for dogs! What are you doing!’
6 yr old ‘the pavement will burn his feet’

I mean a fucking 6 yr old, not dog owning or even having spoken about dogs and heat, and look and assess the situation.

I despair.

btw I left my dog owning scary neighbour to descend with full annoyance and resolve the stupidity.

It might be normal temps in other countries.

But for the 100th time.

We are not set up for them.
Our train rails are buckling
Our houses are built for mild spring and autumn temperatures
We don't have shutters on our windows, houses painted white for example.
We keep working through the hottest part of the day.
Our bodies are not physiologically adapted to them.

But yeah, we're like them today with hundreds of wildfires across the country which in Essex and London are destroying homes and businesses.

We'll find out on another thread that you live in Shetland where I believe it was 14 degrees today

Countries with routine higher temperatures also seem to be countries with greater levels of poverty / correlation , perhaps also causal in terms of the impact of heat on productivity

You may well be fit, healthy, not an idiot & know what you're doing. Unfortunately there seem to be too many people who aren't that fit or healthy, having possibly taken up running to GET fit and/or lose weight, who are still going out for runs. And not always in the mornings, which are cooler, but early evening which round here is still stiflingly hot. Seeing an over weight middle aged guy purple in the face & panting like an exhausted bulldog suggests to me that maybe he shouldn't be out running in this temp. It's "only" 36C in my house (cooler than outside), and was similar this time yesterday.

The guidance & concern isn't really for fit healthy people who know their limits and what is sensible, it's for the idiots who don't have much sense and aren't able to realise the effect the heat is having on their body until it's a bit too late.

i saw a few people on the beach yesterday, including a toddler - i could barely walk on the prom

Can she explain that to my body please that will not tan unless it's fake? 😂

According to all the alert warnings you should open all your windows and doors early let the cold air in. Then after 1 hr close the windows and curtains to trap in the colder air. I personally did not find it made much difference at all.

One thing I saw was that if you see a dog in a car in this heat then you are entitled to smash a car window, give the dog some water and report it. You wouldn't be fined for that. Strange thing, they didn't mention children in a car whilst mum/or dad popped into a shop for 20 mins. I assume that situation would apply too.

"Early" is fairly ambiguous, and I don't know where the 1hr thing came from? Also - did you close your curtains/blinds, or did you leave them open, which will allow a lot of solar energy to pass through?

The rule is to look at the temperature differential.

• If it is hotter outdoors than indoors then close curtains/blinds, close windows, and take any other insulation methods you can to keep that heat out.
• If it is hotter indoors than outdoors, open windows and curtains, use fans by the window, whatever, but aim to get as much cool air in as you can.

It goes without saying that this means that your windows and curtains will generally be open overnight or very early in the morning, but not during the day. I maintained a 10 degree difference between outdoor and indoor temperature by doing this yesterday and Monday.

I covered the windows without blinds in tin foil for Mon & Tue when it was super hot. It definitely helped. With all doors, windows, curtains and blinds shut and the tinfoil on the other windows, it was like walking into a fridge coming in from outside (although in reality, it was still heading for 30C inside). I find when it is less than 30C it's nicer to have the breeze blowing through the house even if it is hot. Anything over 30C shutting it all down until it cools outside works much better. Today it is 28/29C and I have the windows open and I'm enjoying the breeze. The last two days the breeze was more like the breeze you get when you open the oven door!

If the air is hotter outside than inside then having the windows open lets the heat in.

That isn't the same situation as a house though. 1) because of covid and 2) because all the bodies in the room will be generating heat. I would open them too (and have) in that situation. You have my sympathy though. Hot classrooms are not fun.

*breathe

I did an experiment when it was hot. Downstairs I kept the blinds shut at both the back and front of the house, one long room. The room was about 10° cooler than outside.
Upstairs I don’t have blinds but kept the windows shut as I was out at work all day. Upstairs, south facing room, was only 3° cooler than outside.
With the upstairs I opened all the windows when I got home and there was a through draft. But here is the thing, upstairs didn’t get any cooler for having the windows open, but neither did it get any warmer. It felt cooler because there was a breeze.