To avoid summer holidays in Europe atm

[Meadowland]

A friend is just back from Spain and spent the whole week indoors as it was "unbearably" hot.
We have just cancelled. Weather may be unpredictable here but at least we can go out !

I mean... nobody is BU to cancel their own holiday for any reason, if they don't want to go.

I personally wouldn't cancel a holiday due to it being hotter than I'd expected. But I rarely book holidays in southern Europe during the summer anyway. I don't particularly like extreme heat, but for me, 40C isn't really any more uncomfortable than 35C so I'd still go. YANBU to cancel if you don't fancy it though.

There are loads of places in Europe that aren't particularly hot at the moment, though. If you want a beach holiday or a city break on the Med, it's probably going to be roasting. but if you were going somewhere like Brittany or the French Alps it'll likely be high 20s at most. Somewhere like Oslo will be a pleasant 22-23C right now.

The acropolis is generally open 8am-8pm. So if they close 12-5 for hot siesta, there’s still 7hrs a daytime that it’s still open.
Most people wouldn’t go to a historical movement, outside at 2pm in August.

To be fair, it's usually people who fly a lot telling you to cut down on flights. I go on a holiday by plane once every five years, and take trains the rest of the time. Collegues who regularly travel by air for work much more frequently look down on this, because holidays afre frivolous and business is important. Annoying.

Europe is huge though. My inlaws live by the coast in Cyprus and its usual temperatures for this time of year 33/34 degrees. They said its not been any warmer than usual. In land in Cyprus at this time of year is about 40 degrees anyway so it's not loads warmer at the moment.
Northern Italy/Southern Austria my relatives live in and temperatures are fine there.

I would do the same - I can't function in over 30 degree weather, i've had heatstroke before, and that was on a day sightseeing in a city, with a hat on and drinking lots of water.

There is currently a heatwave in the Med, with places which would usually be in the 20s in the 30s, and temps of over 40 expected in multiple areas, so it's disingenuous to say that the OP should have know that it would be hot in July and is overreacting.

I’m just back from a week in Cyprus - it was mid 30s everyday. We used it as a good excuse to do nothing - lounge by the pool, read books, regularly dip in the pool and lots of cocktails drinks. Albeit we were very happy to have a lazy holiday for once.

Come on, she is obviously talking about the hotter countries in Europe. The countries in the med.

I totally agree although DH is one of the people that works in these conferences both in the Middle East and all over the world. The sheer amount of equipment that needs shipping in; massive sound and lighting rigs (no they don’t use in house ones), producers, tech crew, speakers and audience, is mind blowing. Each show costs many many hundreds of thousands of pounds for something that lasts two weeks at best and a night at worst .Some of it by road, some is flown in and yes it’s all pretty unnecessary on the face of it.
However there are whole industries built around this. The many thousands of people involved in conferences are also doing Glastonbury and the other festivals across Europe, West End theatres as well as tv and film production . The fall out if it all stopped, as happened in the pandemic, is colossal.
Repeat this for all the other non essential industries and you have the Covid years again. Only without governments paying people not to work.

48 degrees though?? When the countries can’t cope? Also no I like to do more than be inside all day with occasional pool dips.

Have you been in nearly 50 degree heat? Just saying! It’s very different to 30.

You booked a holiday (I presume on the med?) in July or August, what did you expect? A cooling breeze? 🙄

Dd is currently in Italy and out and about all day every day sight seeing. No staying indoors keeping cool! She seems to be enjoying herself from the photos I’ve seen.

Even before this year I wouldn’t have booked to go to the Mediterranean in Jul/Aug due to both heat and crowds. I much prefer June or Sept.

Moderately hot weather (low 30s) is much nicer with a sea breeze and air-con in Greece than my stuffy flat in the UK though.

We are just about to head to this forecast and I feel nothing but excitement! Cancelling a hot holiday abroad because it’s too hot is madness (unless it’s 45c+ and a freak heatwave).

You booked a holiday in southern wurope for end if July and didn't expect it ti be hot ? didn't do your research well did you ? yes there is a heatwave at mo but it's hot around that time of year mostly. we did Greece end of June a few years ago and it was mid 30s most days. why didn't you book a different time of year or somewhere else?
if you don't want sun come to Ireland it has rained the past 4 days in a row. we have a little sun today then more rain. secondary kids have been on hols since end of May and primary kids finished end of June. everyone I know os either flying somewhere or getting the boat to France or Spain. I have no problem with our weather mostly but please can we have a few weeks in a row with no rain in summer so we can plan to do things

sorry that should say southern Europe bloody fat fingers and autocorrect

The last two years would concern me due to the very hot temperatures, but we've had hot weather here before and then flooding in southern Europe. It's just luck. I've gone on lots of holidays where the weather was pretty shit in Spain and Greece, but very nice here.

Just go to Northern Europe- France, Belgium, North Germany, The Netherlands. Great countries to visit, just be prepared for colder temps.

I see your point OP tbh. We usually go abroad (Canaries/Cyprus) during the Easter holidays instead. Though the pools are absolutely freezing then. We're off to Dorset this August (it will probably rain for a week) I love UK holidays but they are pricey & my DS (15) moans they are boring with too much walking & looking at castles 🤣 but that's what I prefer.

Absolutely no southern Europe in July-early August here. Late August - September maybe but best April-May. Europe is huge - lakes and mountains in Austria/Switzerland/Germany, volcanoes in Iceland, the Baltic coast is lovely as was previously said, etc etc !

I wouldn’t have cancelled.

We have booked Jersey as mainland Europe usually too hot for us in summer, looks like it's going to rain though, so you pay your money and you take your chances.

Europe is a very big place and not everywhere is in a heat wave situation. Dd is going to Netherlands next week which is expected to be low 20s and a lot of rain (sports training camp outdoors and sleeping in tents - she's gonna love that!).

We are going to Germany 2 weeks after that and that area is currently mid 20s.

My boss is going to Sweden which is lovely at the minute.

And even in hotter countries there are cooler places - Vienna in Austria is forecast to be 30 today, but the village we went skiing in up the mountains is only forecast to be 19 degrees today. So going up into mountains rather than being low can help too.

And there's always Ireland - lots of rain and cool enough to welcome a cardigan! That's also part of "Europe".

I don't think you can base it off just the current situation, they're experiencing two heatwaves back to back, it's hardly normal weather for them. We've got a holiday booked and it's out first since 2017 and will be our last for a while so we won't be cancelling, but temperatures will be back to the areas normal by then.

It was 36-38C last year when we went to Italy in August 🤷

Not unusual, but not in the 40s as I think it has been recently.

40C+ in southern Spain is quite normal though. We went to Andalucia on our honeymoon, mid June, and it was 25-30C in the Alpujarras/Sierra Nevada but 45C in Granada.

When DDs were younger we used to stick to the UK in the summer and if we went overseas we'd go earlier in the year as I know the temperatures can be 40C+ in summer in a heatwave in sunnier places.

I know its particularly hot there at the moment but we know if we book the Med in July it's going to be very very hot any year, so not sure why anyone would if they struggle with the heat.