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.

While I am a heat lover I do get that some people really struggle with it. I think we achieved a peak of 35 degrees where I live (South Yorkshire). I can deal with it for a few days during the day, but it is the hot nights that can be an issue.

I was going to go to the office on the hottest days to take advantage of the aircon, but as the roads were melting we were advised to stay working from home.

On what was probably the hottest day of the year I went to Tesco to find that all their fridges and freezers had broken down. Luckily the ones in the Co-op hadn't so I managed to get what I needed there.

I think the only thing you can do @screamingbanshees is budget for an aircon unit. A lot of Scotland in August is full of midges unless you go to the East coast BTW.

Where do you live? I'm in the south and yes it was hot for a few days but certainly not hot enough for me to worry for my life. Thats mainly for the elderly or those with compromised immune systems. Unless you are in Saudi or somewhere where it gets massively boiling I think this is indicative of some kind of underlying anxiety as UK is not a "dangerously hot" country in general by anyone's standards.

Norther Ireland wasn't like that. It was cold and wet and raining.

I hate this minimising! Even our schools closed last year due to the heat! It was ds's birthday so I remember clearly having to cancel our family bbq as it just wasn't safe to sit outside.

The humidity is unbearable and this country is just not equipped to manage hot temps.

It was really unpleasant here (SE) for several days last summer. I live on the edge of a town, and at the top of a hill, and there's almost always a breeze. Those very hot days last summer were really uncomfortable, and down in the town centre it was much worse: narrow streets and tall buildings that acted like giant storage heaters.

I'm thinking about buying a portable air con unit, but they're quite expensive and it seems like a lot of outlay for something that might only get used a few days a year, at most.

I'm not looking forward to it, but far from terrified. I am concerned for the future though, if it carries on getting hotter and hotter. It actually makes me glad I'm old, and that I probably won't be around for the worst of it.

This. All those saying 'move north', that's exactly what will happen in the world, but there won't be room for everyone. And air conditioning just exacerbates the problem.

OP, lots of posters are being vile to you because that's the way AIBU is, but if you'd started a thread in September saying you were dreading winter you would get loads of sympathy!

I too am dreading the summer OP, I don't cope with extreme heat well, it makes my health condions worse and I spent most of last summer feeling really ill, so if it's going to be hotter, I don't know how I will cope with it.

OP is in Liverpool.
@screamingbanshees you've said on other threads you're 19. Ask your mum about the summer you were born. That's the summer I gave birth and the UK was hotter than southern Europe.

I’m in outer SW London, and it was certainly more than a very few days of extreme heat here. And on the day of my Gds’ birthday party, in a park in Oxford, it was 40 deg! Thank goodness there were big trees for shade - the kids didn’t seem bothered though.

OP, do buy an air con unit now, before they’re sold out or the price rockets. You never know, it could be an insurance policy and it’ll be a cool wet summer - they have been known!

Lose weight, it really helps regulate temperature as fat is an insulator.

Using words like ‘terrified’, ‘suffer’ and ‘horrific’ about the weather when people in Turkey and Syria have recently experienced horrific, terrifying suffering is, clearly, overdramatic.

YABVVVU.

Exactly! Try being in a tiny flat with no outside space it was bloody awful. Trying to sleep at night was impossible and I got the worst migraines.

Move to Glasgow

Move North then, certainly wasn't hot in Scotland last yr!

I think YABU to be THIS worked up about it. Heatwaves can be tough but "terrified" "horrific" "dreading" is OTT.

I understand @screamingbanshees . I did not enjoy last summer either and am already dreading this summer. for you

I live about an hour north of London and I remember more than a few very hot days. We cut our grass in May and didn't need to do it again in summer because it all died off. I didn't mind it too much but I didn't have a hot, uncomfortable baby or toddler.

If you have had the heads up already, then use the time to prepare better for it. Using the word terrified is quite extreme, so just by that I'm assuming you are highly anxious about it. Possibly part of the problem last year is that there was very little warning, so there was scrambling around to put plans in place.

So now you know more of what to expect, therefore you can use the time planning and not dreading.

If you have enough money to spare to pop off someone else as an avoid (and how are you going to time that) use that money for a longer term solution instead.

almost all weather is bearable if you're well prepared for it, you know you find it hard to tolerate high temps in summer and you know the met's forecast, so prepare. Make sure you have good cross ventilation....a little natural breeze can cool your home. If no through drafts, look to fans or a portable air con unit. If you own your home, a small wall unit can comofrtably cool a common room like a lounge or the main bedroom. Make sure you stay hydrated and dress appropriately in light fabrics. Wearing as little as possible doesnt always work as you then get exposed, sunburnt etc. Light breathable fabrics in light colours are good. Think of what makes you overheat - eg for me its my hair as its long and turns into a heating panel over my neck throat and shoulders - so its better if I tie it up and get it away from neck and ears. Eat light foods and hydrate all the time. And its not going to go down well with many, but look to your weight and fitness. I know when Im out of shape and carrying extra weight, I feel the heat more, carrying around the extra pounds and being out of puff just heighten the discomfort of the heat. Its not like the english summer lasts long. It will be over before you can say 'Im too hot'...

Ok OP definitely used the wrong word. I am not looking forward to the summer though. London flats are so poorly designed for heat waves. Zero ventilation.

I’m very near Liverpool.
Fit proper A/C to one room then it’s a non issue :)

Lots of folk are currently struggling to pay energy bills at the moment, many people are living in extremely cold houses and not even maintaining their homes at 12 degrees it seems a bit insensitive to complain about sunshine . The thought of balmy weather is all that is keeping many people going at the moment.

There are lots of ways to cope with the warmer weather and the changing Seasons help make the UK special.

I absolutely fucking despise the heat too. It’s alarming how it’s suddenly become so hot over in the summers. I’m south facing and in the south and it was unbearable, and that’s with air con and solar film on the windows.

I like winter. Summer can go fuck itself.

I was thinking this only the other day. I had a 6 month old last summer and was constantly worried about her over heating. And I was breast feeding her so we were always fused together with sweat from all the touching!!! The extreme heat is only for a few days, though, and then the rest of the time it was warm but not excessive. And really, it didn't last that long. I am enjoying the winter more now because of it!

I think it's just a case of trying to make the most out of it, or at the very least, surviving it.

Good luck and have a great summer!!!