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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be terrified of the coming summer?

970 replies

screamingbanshees · 10/02/2023 07:49

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.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
9
Badbudgeter · 12/02/2023 12:33

I'm desperate for a bit of free heat tbh (Scotland) Roll on summer.

justasking111 · 12/02/2023 12:36

Family in the Highlands were in fleeces all summer.

sanityisamyth · 12/02/2023 12:37

I can't wait. I hate bloody winter.

GuildfordAngel · 12/02/2023 12:43

Air conditioning is ok if the leccy prices allow you to use it without bankrupting yourself.

Highlighta · 12/02/2023 12:50

Timetoretire · 12/02/2023 12:16

This is a very pertinent thread. We should all be expecting hotter summers in the future.
I went to a talk given by a retired meteorologist “Surviving a heatwave”, it was very interesting and actually moved into societal breakdown as everyone turned on their air conditioning, used more water etc.
Statistically women over 70 are more at risk in heatwaves, he didn’t know the reason, but older ladies will know that after menopause our body thermostats never return to normal. We all agreed this was probably the reason.
He recommended leaving a bath full of cold water to dip into (not renewing daily), which would also be handy should the water suddenly be cut off or rationed.
Covering your windows if south facing or when the sun is shining ie pulling curtains, blinds or taping up newspaper .
Plants growing against your house also help keep the temperature lower, as does leaving your lawn longer.

I live in the south east. Our house is south facing it did get very hot, we have invested in a canopy over part of the rear to keep the sun off. We are lucky to have a small cellar, it is dark and dank, but we did go and sit in it to cool down! We also have access to a paddock down our lane, which in the summer has very long grass - we would stroll up there and sit in it, the temperature was definitely lower, which supported his theory about growing plants against the house and long grass.

I totally agree with you about the longer grass and plants / trees.

I live in a hot country, so we are more geared for the hotter weather. There were so many posts last year from overseas posters saying , but we live like this for 9 months of the year , but the difference is, that we know it's coming.

Wrt the plants. I have a Labrador and he sleeps outside (by choice). He is gets much warmer than my other dog because she isn't double coated like the Lab. But near my bedroom window I have a lot of Canna plants, and every night when it's hot...that is where he goes to sleep for the night. I hear him rustling around in there, and by the end of summer he's flattened out most of the plants by making it his bed. So out of interest I have crawled into his spot, and it's a good amount of degrees cooler in that little spot.

I also think that what sounds like the lack of trees in housing estates are a massive issue.

Where I walk a lot, the difference in temperature in the unshaded areas and the shaded areas is really something. And the air is just different in the forestry areas as well in that heat.

I know many people don't cope well in the heat, but I suspect it was so much worse last year as it was quite unexpected. And to be caught off guard by anything, is understandably stressful.

justasking111 · 12/02/2023 13:18

GuildfordAngel · 12/02/2023 12:43

Air conditioning is ok if the leccy prices allow you to use it without bankrupting yourself.

If you can't afford it i did suggest some DIY ideas. Me I have had a shower before bed, not dried myself but got under a sheet dripping wet including hair that helps me drop off. Downstairs is cooler than upstairs. In a flat reflective stuff on the windows.

In Madrid they have a building with running water surrounding it. Apparently that draws the heat

wearinghardhat · 12/02/2023 13:48

I actually bought 4 mire water butts for the allotment because of that. we used so much mulch and watered every day, some days 2x a day but we came off with a really bad crop. I'm collecting cardboard to shred and mulch with this year. it's very scary, our lettuce basically burnt away.

I had to bring a mattress into the hallway downstairs and sleep in there as it was the coolest area in the house but it was still stifling..
I couldn't bear to go upstairs even for a wee as it was so hot up there

Redebs · 12/02/2023 13:55

My house has so little insulation that it's horribly uncomfortable in extreme weather.
Really hot weather is torture

BogRollBOGOF · 12/02/2023 13:57

Highlighta · 12/02/2023 12:50

I totally agree with you about the longer grass and plants / trees.

I live in a hot country, so we are more geared for the hotter weather. There were so many posts last year from overseas posters saying , but we live like this for 9 months of the year , but the difference is, that we know it's coming.

Wrt the plants. I have a Labrador and he sleeps outside (by choice). He is gets much warmer than my other dog because she isn't double coated like the Lab. But near my bedroom window I have a lot of Canna plants, and every night when it's hot...that is where he goes to sleep for the night. I hear him rustling around in there, and by the end of summer he's flattened out most of the plants by making it his bed. So out of interest I have crawled into his spot, and it's a good amount of degrees cooler in that little spot.

I also think that what sounds like the lack of trees in housing estates are a massive issue.

Where I walk a lot, the difference in temperature in the unshaded areas and the shaded areas is really something. And the air is just different in the forestry areas as well in that heat.

I know many people don't cope well in the heat, but I suspect it was so much worse last year as it was quite unexpected. And to be caught off guard by anything, is understandably stressful.

Show quote history

The 40⁰C weather triggered DS's asthma which he struggled with for the rest of the summer. Any change of air quality got it going again. This got "interesting" on a camping holiday when the temperatures reached 30+⁰C. He couldn't cope with A/C, and we ended up seeking shady gardens and water as the most comfortable environment for him.

He's now managed on a level of medication that we can tweak if it flares up again, so I'm not terrified about summer.

When there is a hot, dry spell forecast, I don't cut the lawn which helps to protect it and retain moisture. It won't grow when it's too dry anyway so I cut it when the spell is about to end. It keeps the lawn and soil healthier and the moisture in the grass stops the ground heating up as much. By the end of it, I still have a greenish lawn, when the neighbours' have gone brown.

Abracadabra12345 · 12/02/2023 14:20

Mackonadragos · 10/02/2023 11:59

It's predicted that London is going to be like Barcelona by 2050. So be prepared and don't be so dramatic. Billions of people live and cope with lot worse.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/10/global-heating-london-similar-climate-barcelona-2050

However, I am always stunned how Brits cannot use their common sense when it comes to heat.

Don't go out in the middle of the day.
Close windows and curtains during the day, open them during the night.
Start to install outside shutters so that the light cannot come into the rooms far more effective.
Do not wear plastic clothes.
Plant trees around your house - for a cooler microclimate. A forest garden.
Do not cut your lawn too short (or do not cut at all), keep it at leas 5 cm or longer - it helps to keep it alive and cooler.
Plant trees in your towns. Look at what Vienna does.

Do not use air nots - it will make climate crisis worse.
Housing estates are still being built seemingly without any adaptation to a hotter climate.

Just try and adapt.

I thought that outside shutters weren’t suitable because UK windows tend to open outwards?

Im investigating the best blinds as we currently have curtains only (with white blackout material - white reflects the light / heat back out, black draws it in). Any tips for blinds?

OP I’m SE and the summer was endless and relentless and I feel exactly the same as you. You are definitely NBU

ethermint · 12/02/2023 14:22

@Abracadabra12345 I got these blinds for heat insulation over the winter, which they do a good job of, not tried them in summer yet but I believe they work well to keep heat out too (while allowing light). www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/hoppvals-cellular-blind-white-90290627/

Pdotted · 12/02/2023 15:53

Shame some people have to make light of this - I get it. Partly a menopause thing and hardly being able to remember the last time I ever felt cold! Also - this is a reasonable fear. I didn't leave the house on those blistering days/weeks and wandered around inside clutching my mini air-con unit...£40: sanity-saver!

JoonT · 12/02/2023 16:35

The noise really got me down last summer. I'm in Essex, on a new build estate, where too many houses have been jammed on top of one another and too many people. The estate is ringed by roads, and at night little idiots in cars with souped up engines and exhausts like canons, race round and round. During the winter, I can shut the windows, but when it's hot I have them open all the time. Throughout last summer I was constantly annoyed and woken up by the sound of their exhausts banging and exploding. We've also got some 'problem families' in social housing nearby. They used to have barbecues and then spend half the night drinking and fighting. Since none of them work, this occurred on week nights as well. At least in the winter people stay indoors.

I hated last summer. It was like a vision of Britain's future: hot, overcrowded, noisy, and full of anti-social families.

salsamummy · 12/02/2023 18:20

Just got back from the Caribbean and the people never moan about the weather even when it rained.

Oldlionsofspitalfields · 12/02/2023 18:26

Summers, especially August, are an excruciatingly depressing prospect for those living in, for example:
Densely populated areas without trees or green spaces (to absorb heat) in London.
In a new build that doesn't release heat in a flat that doesn't have windows to create an air flow, in a flat facing the sun for the hottest period of the day.
It can, and does, feel like living in an oven.
So many here are anxious to contradict other people's own experience of how summer heat affects them.
Talk about your own experience but don't try to tell others they are wrong as it just shows you up to be stoopid & higorant.

magicthree · 12/02/2023 18:54

Ayhbar · 12/02/2023 09:38

The climate is changing, getting hotter, and there are more heat related illness and deaths predicted, so I think it's a reasonable thing to think about and prepare for. Maybe make plans about how to keep cool.

A sensible post. Yes, the climate is changing, and everyone will have to learn to adapt - or is it only just the UK which is getting hotter? I don't live in the UK, and of course there are a lot of people here who don't like hot weather either, but I have never heard such dramatics as are on this thread. There is no point in saying over and over "I can't cope". You will have to cope, so maybe make some effort to do so.

GuildfordAngel · 12/02/2023 18:57

For thermal insulation [both heat and cold] I have been recommended Rempro thermal paint. Apparently there are miniscule glass beads in the paint which maintains the temperature inside the house, it only comes in white but can be painted/papered over. I am guessing you would only use it on the inside of exterior walls cos it is about £27 per litre.

Fluff3 · 12/02/2023 21:20

If this is true, I cant wait. Love it hot.

pavillion1 · 12/02/2023 21:29

totally with you OP we are in the south east and it was relentless. i work in assisted living full time and i would go home feeling so unwell.. Always loved summer but im really dreading it . We are not built for it .

Abracadabra12345 · 12/02/2023 22:07

therarebear · 10/02/2023 10:36

Don't blame you OP, I'm dreading it too. Last Summer we were lucky enough to have been booked to fuck off to Australia to see my partner's family and I couldn't get on that plane fast enough. The last day of my daughter's school was 40 degrees! I'm dreading this summer as our neighbours don't give a shit about anyone so they blast music, get mates around to shout in the garden with, and smoke loads of weed. So we end up shut in to try and block them out. Dreading it.

Yes well that's another issue of endless hot summer - every one outside in their gardens all the time and if they're loud and inconsiderate, it adds to the misery

I'm so glad we can reset during these winter months

Original poster
screamingbanshees · 12/02/2023 22:33

BlondieLady · 11/02/2023 19:40

Have you considered you may be going through the menopause?

I bloody hope not as I'm 20.

OP posts:
Timetoretire · 12/02/2023 23:05

i have some blinds by Luxaflex called duette blinds, they keep the heat in in the winter and the sun out in the summer. They have 2 layers with air circulating in the middle. I’ve had them for 14 years.
I think that other companies have copied them now, I know IKEA do some similar ones. I rate them as one of my best ever buys.

Timetoretire · 12/02/2023 23:10

Timetoretire · 12/02/2023 23:05

i have some blinds by Luxaflex called duette blinds, they keep the heat in in the winter and the sun out in the summer. They have 2 layers with air circulating in the middle. I’ve had them for 14 years.
I think that other companies have copied them now, I know IKEA do some similar ones. I rate them as one of my best ever buys.

@Abracadabra12345