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.

So be prepared and don't be so dramatic. Billions of people live and cope with lot worse.

Easier said than done , the UKs infrastructure is designed and built for the cold and wet. Unlike in Barcelona.

Get a shower head attachment for your bath taps. Showers are so much more cooling than baths, especially if you turn the water temp right down, you can tolerate far colder showers than baths, usually.

I live in a metal house. It’s a bitch in the summer. 🥵

This is the first time in six years that we've lived in a house with a garden so I can guarantee it will be a wet miserable summer, that's the kind of luck I have!

Personally I loved the hot summer we had last year.🤷🏼‍♀️

Ita been a very mild winter apart from one week of frost.

I haven't scrolled through, but the ONS only comes up with about £3k excess deaths during the heat periods of last year. Certainly not £24k.

We are in the South East, consistently in the hottest area of the country near Wisley, and yes, it was hot for a few days, but in general was a lovely summer, albeit very dry.

I'd forgotten how hot it was, it was pretty bad wasn't it.

Work out how you can comfortably sleep downstairs or wherever your home is coolest

2nd floor flat so don't have a downstairs. Coldest part of the flat is the storage cupboard of the hallway, far too small to sleep in there even if it wasn't full of my belongings. Second coolest, the bathroom. Again floor space too small for me to lie on it. Even if there were space, would you seriously suggest I try to sleep in a bloody cupboard or on the bathroom floor for several nights in a row?

Im in the south and really wasn’t that bad. There were a few hot days but nothing too extreme. What do you usually do when its hot? If its the weekend, get a blow up pool to cool down in (even if you haven’t got little kids anymore). Have you got fans by your bed? Does your office have air con/fans?

I love the heat and I know not everyone does, but its quite extreme worrying about it with frost on the ground 😅

Yes, I should have elaborated on it. Do not go out unless absolutely necessary. In my country office hours start at 8, so is school. Other work start earlier.Summer holiday starts at mid June. I happened to live in Cyprus. They start at 6, school start at 7.

Well, of course schools, high rises etc will not survive without aircons, or something, but at least in our family homes we should try.

I was looking at AC units last year as I think of this is how it's going to be I might invest in one each year until we have one for each bedroom at least. Although with the price of electricity now I'm not so sure 🤦🏻‍♀️ the best rated and cheapest ones I found were from Toolstation and Screwfix type places.

I'm not scared or nervous for myself or my loved ones in terms of experiencing the heat (in a simple way I'm looking forward to that, I love the heat and struggle massively with the cold), but I am scared in regards to the climate issues causing the extreme heat. I don't think it's unreasonable to take that seriously.

In the South East/London it was unbearably hot and humid for weeks last summer!

I'm not terrified, that'd be silly but I am not looking forward to it at all!

It’s not comparable to those that suffer SAD. Without fail winter has little light and is pretty cold. It’s the lack of light that causes SAD. Plus this lasts for months. Every single year.

Yes last summer was hotter than normal but we can have years of wet/miserable summers. In fact that is the norm - the ‘great’ British summer. Not so great. Lots of rain. That is why people who like heat and sun tend to holiday abroad as it’s so unreliable.

So if you don’t like the heat - you can have a good run of a few years where we don’t even have a pleasant summer and then you’re back in to your preferred cold, dank and miserable.

Thats why people don’t have much empathy. It’s not an every year occurrence.

As an aside air con in our bedroom made a lot of difference.

Well, that is my point. You either adapt to the changing circumstances, or just get roasted.

I'm stunned how these housing estates still can get permission - no heat prevention whatsoever.

The climate issues are a different concern. And yes that is worrying. But it’s not a given we will get a scorching summer every year.

Just a further note, a well insulated house in the Winter keeps the heat in, and well insulated house in the Summer keeps the heat out, it isn't any either or.

Our hot summer routine. All windows open overnight. Closed up at 8am. All blinds and windows and doors closed all day. When the sun starts to go down, open all North and East facing windows and doors to get some air in. After dark open up the entire house, all windows, doors, and open loft hatch. Run fans pointing out of bedroom windows, so you are pulling the hot air out of the house, and replacing with cool. It really works.

If you are in and out of the house, in 30+ degrees, the inside will always feel cooler than being out and about or sitting in the sun.

Im in the south west and can guarantee it never touched 40 here. I think we had a couple of days late 30’s and then a normal mixed Summer.

People are allowed to love the Summer (thats why most of us jump on a plane for a few weeks every year because we’ve never had it guaranteed here). Im intrigued by the people posting that they live in London and hate the hot city. Surely when they made the decision to move to London, they knew it would be roasting in the Summer? I wouldn’t even do a day trip there in the Summer as would much rather be in the countryside/coast in the Summer. I wouldn’t want to be by cars/fumes in 40 degrees. If you really hated Summers in the city so much, you would move.

Hi OP sorry you have a medical condition made worse by the heat. I completely understand you dreading it as dehydration is grim.

Why not start making a plan now to cope? Save up for air conditioner- even if you just have it in the smallest room. Go to your GP and explain how much you struggled. Get some hydration sachets, get some ice packs.

I think you’ll feel better with a plan.

There is no way even the Met Office can make an accurate weather forecast that far ahead.

Stop worrying and prepare as best you can for hot weather.

I'm in London and it was very hot and we had no rain for about a month. With the fires in Essex and some of the local commons catching fire due to the grass and ground being so dry I was genuinely worried for my house and garden. I need to work so can't just lie in front of a fan eating ice cream...

It really wasn't. I don't even like hot weather and I don't remember it being relentless or going on for weeks. There was that first wave when we had the 40 degree day which lasted about a week, and then another week in August.

And I don't know where the "mild" winter ideas are coming from either. It hasn't snowed, but it has been very cold and minus temperatures for weeks, I don't remember it being this cold for a while. There have been other winters where I've barely ever had to de-ice my car, this winter it seems to be frozen nearly every day.

I live about 35 miles from London.

A ban on garden bonfires would help, although it wouldn't stop the idiots who decide to have BBQs in a tinder-dry field somewhere.

Exactly how I feel

Can't come soon enough for me, I can't wait. Our house is north facing though and never too hot. Having all our meals in the garden, BBQing - I really hope it is another hot year - although I'd prefer like the covid year when it was warm and dry a lot rather than just a couple of weeks of mad heat.