To ask if this scoffing at the concern over the heatwave have changed their minds yet?

[DeadbeatYoda]

Just that really. I've just watched the news. The houses burning, the grass fires, the rail infrastructure buckling. Record temperatures in 29 locations today. Several areas exceeding 40 degrees. Do you still think it's 'hysteria' to take it seriously?

It's miserable here. Those smug pricks can fuck off.

It’s really not.

Locally to me there is a fire out of control that has taken hold of some houses. The people who live in the village have been evacuated.
One of the major trunk roads in the area has been closed because the surface has buckled and broken up due to the temperature.
We're just not set up for these extreme temperatures and even those areas that are, e.g. BC in Canada still experience situations where things can get out of control, like the wildfires that happened last summer.

I live in North Yorks and totally agree that most weather reporting is overly London focussed.

But even here, it was unbearably, dangerously hot today. I closed all curtains and windows, and the interior of my house still reached 28 degrees. We didnt hit 40 degrees (quite), but the local temperature record will have been exceed by 4 or 5 degrees today.

I'm a healthy, fit middle aged woman, with a healthy BMI, I stayed as hydrated as I could all day, yet I'm now flaked out on the sofa feeling sick and shaky.

So yes, this weather was serious and extreme.

Taking it seriously does not equal hysteria.

Some people were hysterical.

It was sensible to think about having more water on you, not being in direct sun or heat. But people were keeping kids of school, not going to work, panicking, talking about 'risk to life' of fit and healthy people without recognising how risk works. Moaning about housing that is built to 'retain heat' without recognising that if its insulated to retain heat, it will also keep out heat given the right actions. The list was endless.

The fires are from people being careless by the way, its not hot enough in this country for our landscape to spontaneously start burning.

The rail infrastructure has problems around 35 or so, so that happens a lot of years.

wheres that @vipersnest1

I am also from Yorkshire, I do remember fires in the local fields, fortunately no houses were impacted at the time

Across the globe, hot days are getting hotter and more frequent, while we’re experiencing fewer cold days. Over the past decade, daily record high temperatures have occurred twice as often as record lows across the continental United States, up from a near 1:1 ratio in the 1950s.

Heat waves are becoming more common, and intense heat waves are more frequent in the U.S.

West, although in some parts of the country the 1930s still holds the record for number of heat waves primarily related to the Dust Bowl, which was exacerbated by the conversion of prairie to farmland.

If greenhouse gas emissions are not significantly curtailed, daily high and low temperatures will increase by at least 5 degrees F in most areas by mid-century, rising to 10 degrees F by late century.

The National Climate Assessment estimates 20-30 more days over 90 degrees F in most areas by mid-century.
Ornament Central

It was a dangerous temperature in my mother's house, and there was no way to cool it. She wasn't in the hottest area.

That's new.

I'm east mids, and was at 39/40 degrees. Luckily we're three stories so although the top floor is unbearable the bottom two are ok- with a lot of attention paid to windows and blinds, and fans and frozen water. It's still above 30 here.

I never thought it hysteria to take it seriously. I just wish in terms of some of the adaptive measures the possibility of this week's weather had been taken seriously after the summer of 2003. This thing called planning.

Toronto has some sensible ideas such as access to public air conditioned buildings, Paris has Metro trains where windows open, many countries have longer school summer holidays, for example.

I think its been fairly lucky also that we have had very low humidity. The heat is uncomfortable and horrible, I hate summer anyway, but thank goodness it wasnt sticky and humid (although I have a feeling it will be tomorrow and will probably feel worse).

Haven't read any concerns of those nature on MN. It's all been about how dangerous it is for kids to be in school.

I mean, I can appreciate all those things - but not sure what panicking about the rail infrastructure is going to do to help? Or what I, as an individual, can actually do about it?

My son went to school as normal (although I picked him up so he didn't have to walk home) I worked as normal - yeah it was hot and sticky and not that pleasant but that's it.

No.
House Fires - Caused by a BBQ initially.
Wild Fires - We have them regularly in the UK but they rarely make the news.
Rail Infrastructure - tested to a miserly 27 degrees - so basically use better steel?

Do you know what the origins of the word are?

Look it up (or just think about it, because it’s obvious) then come back.

Well, people could die from the fires - either directly or from the poor air quality the smoke will cause. Just because they don't visibly fall dead in the street doesn't mean people will die as a result.

Sadly op the climate change minimisers are all over social media at the moment and MN is not exempt.

will not die

Last couple of years days long fires have raged on the moors where i live. Just not picked up by the national media, because it isn't London

I hate to disappoint you, but moor fires in the north made the national news for days and people were evacuated. But the "last couple of years" is recent enough to be related to climate change as well.

We won’t know yet. A lot more elderly and young people will probably be having issues. It’s not an automatic thing. No one is silly enough to think that.

Yes of course I do. Do you?
Words can be used in different ways. Context is everything.

I've just worked an 11 hour shift in a store with no air conditioning and a metal roof with skylights. Here I am, sweaty and irritable but alive with the help of nothing more than sensible clothing, a few frozen water bottles and 2 cornettos. (Courtesy of the boss)

Wait for excess melanoma deaths in a couple of decades.

Wow so many people are still denying climate change! That’s the scariest part.

I do still think the fit healthy people locking themselves inside in the dark are/were ridiculous. Probably hotter in their homes than put in the shade somewhere with a breeze. I've only seen that on mumsnet though not anyone I know in real life

I for one have taken notice yes. I wasn’t worried before, concerned yes. Now I am actually frightened to go outside because of the heat.

You might think I am overreacting, but this is why.

I haven’t been out in it, only hang washing out and walked to school this morning. My house isn’t that hot, we are lucky, but I couldn’t regulate my body temperature. By lunchtime I felt quite unwell, had to go to an apt about 20 minutes drive with aircon. Aircon at apt, then home. On way home I nearly fainted while driving and had to do emergency stop and put blinkers on until I felt I could drive.

got home got worse and worse, I felt dreadful. Rang 111 they said get to a&e straight away. By the ti got there I was extremely confused and emotional. It was scary.

heat exhaustion, I didn’t even spend time out in it. Temperature 39.1.

I am fit and slim.