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.

I'd definitely have Aircon unit in the bedroom . I did feel sorry for anyone in the south east last summer. If you get a good night sleep that's half the battle of coping

Can we get through one week without panicking over everyone dying because of something? First covid, then food shortages, cost of living causing people to drop like flies and now the sodding heat that’s months and months away (and being discussed while everyone’s still jabbering on about people freezing to death this winter!!).

The world is dire but for the love of sanity people need to stop being terrified of everything all the fecking time! And at this point I’d rather have the scorching heat than the freezing cold, not having been able to top up my gas in over a week means I’m sat shivering my arse off, I can’t wait for summer to hit.

Have you misread the data? ONS says there were about 3,200 excess deaths on hot days in England and wales last summer, not 24,000.

and goes on to say “Each heat-period peak, most notably that on 19 July 2022, was followed by a fall in deaths to below the average over the following days; this suggests a short-term mortality displacement, where deaths among vulnerable individuals are ‘brought forward’ to within the heat-

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/excessmortalityduringheatperiods/englandandwales1juneto31august2022

YABU. It really hasn’t been that bad.

Gosh, I didn’t know Liverpool had it so bad. And the met is forecasting Liverpool will be even worse this year?

defo get proper air conditioning. That sounds awful. As said we are in the south east and had it bad , high thirties at points, no rain for weeks, but nothing like Liverpool it seems.

To be fair, it was only 2 degrees colder in Glasgow than it was in the Norfolk area during the heatwave.

I only dreaded the couple of days it was 40+ because I was 9 months pregnant. Other than that, would have been great!

I'm in the North West too OP and it felt bloody relentless all summer! I'm not dreading it the way you are, but I remember feeling sticky and uncomfortable a hell of a lot! It's a bit too far off for me to be worrying but I will as the time gets nearer. Schools were cancelling sports day and even closing, there were red alerts, problems at local NHS trusts, local animal shelters on their knees and so on. I wish I'd been living where all these nice cool pps were that only had a few days of it! A few years ago we had a small air con unit put upstairs so at least we could manage to sleep a bit, whereas I know lots of family and friends who couldn't as the heat just didn't break even overnight, could you get maybe one installed? It went on my credit card but honestly worth every penny.

We had a week of heat. If you fly anywhere you're only making climate change worse.

It was extremely uncomfortable in the South East last summer. We do everything advised - open windows morning and evening, close curtains in the day, camp downstairs, and we removed most carpeting after the heat of 2018, but the house just seems to warm up to uncomfortable levels when the temps go above 28 degrees. We're in a 1960s box with huge windows. Dh even bought some foil blankets to fit to the windows but then read the heat in-between those and the glass can get to dangerous levels and may shatter the glass so we didnt use them. Even when the temperature goes back to normal levels the house stays hot for a few days longer. We looked at portable air con units but they're expensive to run and the reviews are very mixed. It's definitely something I've come to dread. It might only be a few days or a week or two out of the whole year but its not fun if you don't love the heat and have no escape. My work is busiest in summer and I can't take time off to go on holiday to Scotland or wherever. Dh and I talk about retiring there.

It certainly doesn't help that a lot of the MN community is comfortable or well off in terms of finances, so can afford to just up and move about. Our house is fully insulated and very old, which traps the heat in as we have no cool air circulation. We had multiple fans running in our bedroom, doors open, ice in front of/behind fans etc, and nothing worked for us. Definitely going to be getting AC if we can afford it.

And that is why I am currently buying a house on the edge of the highlands.

once it’s built, our home in the West Country is being sold.

can’t abide the heat unless I’ve an all inclusive package and a swim up bar

For those who are ridiculing or minimising OPs experience, evidently your body’s physical reaction to that level of heat isn’t the same as hers.

I think 'terrified' is a bit of an over-reaction but it's typical of people on here to make a drama out of just about anything.

Yes it was hot and no it wasn't just for a few days but if its bothering you on a freezing cold February day then yes I do think you're being a bit unreasonable.

Some people either live in Scotland or have a selective memory, yes there were about 5 days where it got up to near 40 but the days before and after were also hot.

also if you rent it your house has no shade (because people like to lop down trees with no regard to shade or nature) or is poorly insulated it can be a nightmare.

our house had a side that gets the sun all day and has no windows on it, this meant at times the inside of the house was warmer than outside because of the heat radiating back in.

if you live in a decently ventilated place or had aircon it probably wasn’t an issue or if you were working from a nicely cooled offie you may not have felt the brunt of it.

Don't get air con either. That increases the heat.

No, I was referring to Europe in general, as it was considered a European heatwave rather than just a UK one.

It certainly doesn't help that a lot of the MN community is comfortable or well off in terms of finances

um what now?

that’s kinda weird, are you ok?

It was horrific. Gardens spontaneously combusting, people’s homes catching on fire.

Yeah not that bad at all. Climate change is for real & it’s scarey.

two years ago we removed all our carpets and tiled Every floor in the house

it did make a difference but wasn’t cheap

YANBU. I live in NI and our weather is crap in summer. A bit like Scotland. But, even so, I'm really awful in the heat. Anything over 22/23 degrees and I start to flag! I think, though, I struggle a lot with the glare of the sun as much as the heat.

But we all need to be worried. This is only going to get worse.

Everyone on this thread seems to believe I'm mentally unwell for dreading it.

I doubt you're mentally unwell, but you did use the word "terrified" in your title, which is a pretty extreme reaction.
There were some very hot spells last summer, but it's never uniformly hot all summer, the weather varies.

Erm, it was the hottest summer on record (so since 1659). Every country in the UK broke hottest day records and in England it reached over 40 degrees! No, not high high temperatures 🙄

It was unbearable, YANBU OP. Some people are just complete climate change deniers.

This.

Yes OP, pick up the few hundreds of thousands you have just lying around, uproot your family and career, and just move to Scotland! 🙄

I'm from a hot country and it WAS bad. The UK isn't built to cope with that type of heat and I wouldn't have felt well without our air con at times. I remember being able to lie on the tiled floor (which was standard) to feel cooler, however every shop, office, public building, etc. - even buses! - has aircon. We don't have carpets, blinds yes, but very rarely curtains... Whereas many people in the UK were sitting in carpeted, well-insulated houses that were hotter than it was outside.