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.

Yes, I agree it was awful. There were a couple of weeks that were very uncomfortable for me and the actual heatwave was miserable. Our house is a draughty Victorian which isn't too bad tbh but we all struggled.

It's too far away and uncertain to dread it now but you can prepare by buying an air con unit if you think it's worth it.

And before people wail "but those kind of hot countries have aircon in all their houses!" - no, they flipping don't. I lived in Australia for nearly 2 decades and none of the houses I lived in had aircon

Love it. 40 degrees in my garden at times and the sea only 20 mins away.
Roll on summer.

summer last year was awful here in the midlands. Daily heat in the 28-32 range. i'm plus my many hot flushes and working from home.
i also bought an air con unit which helped a bit

Really? Hardly life endangering.. warm water out of a tap... OMG. At least you have a tap and the water is clean. Think about the billions of people that don't have that luxury.

Can't believe some people are saying there were only about 5 very hot days! It was crippling here in the South East. Was so glad when it cooled down. Can't face another summer like that.

I think the major concern is climate change. I really worry about my littlies futures

but I also remind myself that we have developed/ invented and worked through incredible things before.
it was incredibly unpleasant last summer
i was freaked out by how mild October / November were too.

Warm water from the tap is not a major problem, I agree, @NEW01EDGE - but the deaths due to excess heat are not as easily dismissed.

South East was very hot

my lawn disappeared completely (turned to dust a blew away in the wind) which had never happened before

we had a Spanish exchange student staying for 2 weeks who was surprised that England was hotter than Spain and not what he expected 😁

You don’t remember the week of 33+ weather??

I hated last summer....hardly went outside as it was too hot to do anything....first year ever that I didn't swim in the sea!!

What? We had the hottest days ever recorded in the UK. It was BLOODY hot.

YABU to be "terrified", of heat, in February. FFS.

YABU to "book a holiday just to be somewhere liveable". If you can afford that (which a lot of people won't be able to) then you can afford some air con. A £500ish DeLonghi Penguino will transform you into an ice cube when it's 35 outside.

there were two awful days
one of which caused no end of problems in one of the london hospital departments.
it was very hard,
too hot to leave the house

Where were you? In London it was 37/8+ for far too long. Luckily I spent part of August in Scotland where it was fine but London was unbearable! Travel was appalling, the tubes were just horrendous, temperature of 40+, and buses were pretty awful too. I would describe those temperatures as "high high".

I absolutely get where you are coming from! I love the winter and dislike the summer the way it seems is the opposite to the rest of the world 😂
Last year I found awful, I couldn't sleep, like you say as soon as I stepped out the shower I was hot and sticky again.

I have children and pets, who all struggled, the fur coated ones especially.

You're not alone and believe it or not, all these people saying move to Scotland - that's actually my dream

It was hot. People go to Spain to get weather like that. Personally I dread the winter. We are all different.

I feel exactly the same OP. Anything over 20 is too much for me. I just cannot cope. I am nervous every year as summer approaches. Also for my poor pets.

I feel exactly as you. Dreading summer year round. Even now in freezing temps wearing mittens on the bus I think about London summers and my whole body revolts.

Global warming is no joke, clearly.

Sadly yeah! The mayhem when it was minus 3 for couple of days here recently was something....
-3c not f

It's always something, too hot, too cold, too meh and rainy, too whatever. And news don't help.
"Artic blast"" -fucking3c...

I was about to say the same! We moved back up last year and although I miss having summer weather for longer, I don’t miss the heat in the middle of the summer. It’s never unbearably hot, it’s just right when it’s at its hottest, just wish it was for slightly longer! 😂

Why are so many posters making light of the OP's reaction to the heat last year?

Keep going on about it not being that hot, or only lasting a couple of days, or how she needs to grow up etc are not helping and just make the posters look pretty pathetic.

It WAS NOT a few hot days and a few hot nights. I felt ill for 3 weeks if not longer. I had a migraine most of the days, felt like I couldn't breathe and barely got any sleep.

We all feel heat and cold differently. Even 25 degrees is too hot for me so all the days that were over that were awful for me.

Some people like the heat and that's great for them. My DH has never ever thought it too hot but he understands that I can't take it and has sympathy for me. Shame some posters don't have sympathy.

I don't particularly feel the cold and am always amazed when I read about people wearing fleecey pyjamas and socks to bed with electric blankets and duvets of over 20 tog. Some people have the heating on overnight too.

We have a 4.5 tog all year round, both sleep naked. have the bedroom radiator on the lowest setting and the heating goes off 3 hours before we go to bed. I am never cold and often wake up in the night so hot I have to throw the duvet off. It's not hot flushes as I have always been like that. I don't tell all those people how pathetic they are

Wow some of the comments on here! I thought Mumsnet was a place for support and kindness?! Disagree by all means but be nice surely

Ok, from practical tips for dealing with the heat. Open windows as soon as it cools down in the evening (probably about an hour after sunset) and keep them open all night long (if you’re worried about burglars just leave open upstairs not downstairs) close soon after waking up and do not open again till evening (unless it’s raining and the air significantly cools down). Fans can help if the air circulation in your house is not great.
Black out curtains - pull closed as soon as sun moves on that side of the building and keep closed as long as it stays on that side. If you can put something on the outside of the windows, that’s even better - my aunt used to have those antitheft roller blinds and that was doing an amazing job (but arguably a very expensive solution just for heat).
You can shower in the bath while holding the shower head.
Whenever you get too hot pour cold water from the tap on inside of your wrists and then touch to the sides of your neck too- really helps to cool the whole body fast.
Tepid not ice cold water - ice cold water makes your inner thermostat think that your body is too cold so it cranks up
Loose long sleeve clothes either from natural fabrics or the new exercise ones will help keep you cool and comfortable.
As for your lil’ one - keep them inside between 10am-4pm at least - if it feels hot outside go back in, if it doesn’t feel too hot but still sunny avoid any space that’s not shaded (no beaches, playgrounds, open greens - forests and indoor spaces are your friend).
Hope this helps.:)

This is quite literally right here, why the English have no bloody clue what to do during the heat. Cowering indoors?? Ffs

Close curtains and windows in the morning, go out to the beach/pool/indoor shopping area with aircon for a few hours. Open your windows and curtains when it's cooler in the evening.

Why are you staying indoors where its invariably going to be HOTTER than outside in the shade or somewhere with aircon??