To be terrified of the coming summer?

[screamingbanshees]

Last year there were 24,000+ heat-related deaths due to the heatwave, and the temperatures here were astronomical. It was the worst summer I've ever experienced, sweating constantly, sticking to every surface, always dehydrated, warm water coming out the cold tap, and sweating as soon as I stepped out of the bath. I also had a very unhappy, sweaty, screamy 1.5 year old!

AIBU to be absolutely dreading this year? Apparently the Met Office has claimed 2023 will have an even hotter summer. I don't know if I can bear it again. DP and I are thinking of booking a holiday just to be somewhere liveable. This is also the first winter I've actually enjoyed because of the relief from the heat.

We live in London in a flat. There were only about three or four days that were uncomfortable last summer in my view. In terms of humidity it was acutally very dry weather in contrast with the usual UK very humid heatwaves Which did, ironically make it easier to cope with.

Our flat is a fairly thick walled thirties block so it does remain cooler than more modern flats (it does mean it is a bugger for condensation in the winter though 😫) We also have a lot of trees in our garen and in the local area which heled with shade.

What baffles me is many British people and authorities are always curiously reluctant to change their behaviour in the face of any difficult weather.

In terms of heat there are things you can do to help yourself:

• Wear loose cotton clothing and a hat
• Don't go outside in the hottest parts of the day
• stay hydrated
• Close curtains/blinds and windows during the day and keep them open at night.
• Do more in the evening/night (this is why many hotter countries have later bed and meal times.
• Do not have an BBQs or fires in your garden or in parks.
• Keep a sheet in the freezer and lay it over yourself at night

Longer term - invest in blinds or shutters, plant up your garden with trees and leafy vegetation that can offer shade, get involved in actions to try and limit climate change.

This is a taste of things to come - which is why we ALL have to reduce our carbon footprint.

We were in France in 2019 and where we were it got to 46 degrees one day (the day we were travelling across France from London by train the last 2 hour leg in a crowded train that wasn't air conditioned, that was ...... unpleasant!) The French government intrduced local heatwave measures so there were public water misters, public buildings with air con were opened up for people to sit in (at Avignon station we were literally chased in to the air conditioned ticket office) and free water was handed out at most points. If this continues in the UK our governemnt should do something similar.

I'm only 10 miles from Liverpool and concur it was unbearable for weeks, i had to close my business regularly and running the farm was exhausting.
Any good recommendations for Aircon units?

I live 20 mins from Liverpool. It was hot for about 5 days if that! We had nothing like the weather in the south. Honestly I think you’re remembering something that never happened because it certainly wasn’t that extreme or unbearable

Climate change is real and an emergency, however some hot summer weather is the least of the problems it’s going to bring. If you want to talk about climate change OP that’s fine but saying you’re terrified of a few hot days is not really getting to the point.

I'm with you on this OP. This country and certainly my house are not made for 35+ degrees days on end. It was uncomfortable and I felt very sick by the end of the heatwave despite drinking plenty.

I think for those of us in the South and nowhere near a sea breeze it was deeply unpleasant. We were in the North visiting family for the second spell of hot weather and it was glorious because it just wasn't stifling in the same way.

After I read your OP I made a little mental Mumsnet bingo card and the responses have ticked all the predictable sneery replies.

In fairness as somebody who tells people on threads to "fuck off" and says things like "you are always such a spiteful poster" I'd wind my neck in if I were you and stop doing the pot and kettle thing.
Your posts do nothing other than try and shut other people's opinions down.

How is saying she’s anxious about another bastard hot summer ‘winding everyone up into a frenzy’?

She said she was ‘terrified’ 🤣

OP yabu for being so ridiculously dramatic. You obviously hate the heat, completely reasonable. But you need to find strategies to cope and get through it as you can’t change it. Unless you go and live on Shetland or somewhere like that.

If anxiety is the centre of it then I suggest you see a doctor.

We struggled with the heat - we are on the very south coast. My daughter threw up on sports day because of the heat and had to go home. My animals (sheep, horses, etc.) struggled, which was one of the worst aspects of it.

A few degrees cooler this year would be nice. However, I wouldn’t believe the predictions this early. The harsh winter (despite the cold spells we’ve had) we were predicted did not materialise.

Some people have far too much time to think. Not much work on on a Friday by any chance?

This. I like heat but I am dreading it. Weeks of 40c temps are not right for the UK. The garden was dying, I was worried about our trees. The badgers were behaving oddly and scavenging as they had no food. Year upon year of difficult summers is going to decimate our flora and fauna - that is so deeply worrying.

The average temp for near me in July/Aug is about 20.

There were about 40 days above that. I struggle above 23 degrees. Last year was hot.

What?! Hotter summer? I will be 9 months pregnant in July 🤐

I am not a fan of summer heat, OP, I sympathise. Not in the UK either, and it often gets well into the 30s here. I suffer too.
I think the best thing you can do is think about what you could do to mitigate the effects so that you have a plan in place before it hits.

So yes - fans obviously. But maybe look into upright ones, or even (if it's an option) ceiling fans. We have them in the living areas and kitchen, and they are brilliant.

Also - stopping the heat getting in in the first place: dark blinds maybe? Even the stick-on dark film will help. Also remember it's only worth opening windows very early in the morning before it gets hot, then close everything up again to keep the heat out. We tend to live in darkness during heatwaves :D :D :D
Clothes that you genuinely feel comfortable in: I discovered a few years ago that I absolutely loathe shorts - they make me sweat even more and I can't bear having that much fabric touching me when it's hot. So I swapped to light, loose skirts. Such an obvious thing but it really helped!

Anyway, you get the idea I think - plan ahead, have a few strategies in place, that'll hopefully make you feel a bit calmer about the whole thing.

Get a grip, I mean seriously, are you got real? Is this a parody thread?

I’m personally far more concerned about people dying because they can’t afford to heat their homes.

We only had 1 day @ 40 degrees.

The only problem for the garden was the hosepipe ban but that came late on and all my plants were fine.

@Phrenologistsfinger It ws not weeks of 40 degees - it hit 40 degrees in a few parts of the country (mainly the south) for a couple of days.

YANBU but this is Mumsnet. You are only allowed to complain once it goes past 40 degrees. People have no awareness about other people’s capacity to cope with heat. Personally I don’t like it. I am incredibly fair skinned with lots of ginger in my family and we burn even with factor 50. Therefore applying this which is thick makes you feel even more uncomfortable. If you’re also quite fat it’s also unpleasant but again this is mumsnet, just lose weight you greedy bastard and all that jazz.

It was hideous! Not sure why people have forgotten!

"Terrified" is a very dramatic word, when the actual context implies "not really looking forward to".
Personally, I love hot weather, so hoping we have another great summer.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow agreed it was hot last year.

Average temps are pretty meaningless though in the U.K. In summer if the Atlantic west winds set in it will be cooler than average and wet. Then the wind changes to the south/east and it’s hotter than average. You only really get a run of average days if the wind is from the north but it’s sunny. That isn’t the prevailing wind.

We don’t get a month of the same weather.

The severe and ongoing heat is a concern for lots of people.
The drought is a really really severe risk for us all in terms of water and food supplies.
Air con units, unless run from renewable energy, are not going to help the climate crisis.
We need to be adapting buildings and work patterns and so on to cope with our changing climate - as with other weather scenarios, things can feel worse in England because we are so woefully unprepared for any sort of slightly extreme situation.

I see here is a lot of head in sand burying about climate change - people don’t want to see it - but they’ll have to deal with it eventually! We all will.

Hosepipe bans are not the issue! Hopepipe bans are how we deal with having scarce water supplies. HTH.

Me too OP. I cant bear it. My job involves home visits. I'm 60 and have heart problems. It was so hot I had a stroke on my rounds.
I'm back at work now but I'm dreding the heat.
I always take 2 weeks annual leave in August to try and avoid working in the heat but you can't predict which weeks the heat will be.

Cross post with @Gymmum82 I started really worrying about the drought around Easter last year when the lake started dropping alarmingly and our difficulties continued with plants, crops, animals and wildlife till September.
Business had to shut on key days, crops failed and we were exhausted keeping stock alive and comfortable.
We are outside Chester, Liverpool is 20 minutes away too.
I managed an hour in swimwear on a sheltered balcony first week of January 2022 which is insane.

I'm already concerned about water table levels now.

The key reasons to have a problem with heat are if you are old or infirm or obese.

And yet Italy has the second largest % of older adults in the world - it’s one of the countries with the highest life expectancy - so it’s elderly population is fine in the heat.