To be worried about work with the temperature tomorrow

[Freakedoutandannoyed]

I work in the NHS, based in a large open plan office. It’s pretty warm in there generally even when it’s cool outside. I’m really concerned about how hot it is going to be tomorrow and if I have any leg to stand on re working from home?

Would it not be hotter, or just as hot, at home? I'm a bit jealous anyway, we've not seen the sun in about a week where I am and I'm currently wearing a jumper! I wouldn't mind a bit of sunshine. Hoping it makes an appearance today.

Too late this time but what about a neck fan , or a small cordless fan and some cooling spray , I also find ORS rehydration tablets handy to pop in a glass of water if I’m feeling a bit tired and getting a headache.

Some people don't even know they have an underlying condition.

I lived with mine for over 20 years before I was diagnosed

Hashimoto's makes it difficult for your body to regulate its temperature.

OK thanks I always thought it was odd that im hot all the time but have hypothyroidism and hashimotos i always blamed it on medications, other conditions, age and fatness

Anyone would think the UK is the hottest, driest, and yet most humid place on earth.

We didn't have air con when I was young either, yet somehow we coped, and many thousands of people don't have it in their homes.

I live in a country where we don't have central heating like you do in the UK, we generally only heat the room we are spending the most time in and the rest of the house is freezing in winter. Do we complain to everyone we meet (and a random bunch of strangers on MN) about blah, blah, blah. No we just get on with it - and I imagine more people succumb to the cold than the heat here.

As for not being used to it??? When I was still married I remember hearing on the news how hot it was in the UK and how people couldn't cope - I haven't been married for 23 years!! Maybe it's about time you stopped whinging and made an effort to get used to it.

Some other countries might be, others are much the same as the UK and yet just muddle through, without all the dramatics.

It wouldn't happen though, because not everybody is as affected by it as others.
You for example and lots of people on this thread seem to think it will be bearable if a little uncomfortable. Some have aircon or cooler areas. Not everyone is menopausal. Men often cope with extremes of temperature better than women. Lots of people love the heat!
I dont see a hypothetical situation where everyone takes time off for the same reason, as realistic, nor should it mean that noone needs to

My god if I rang in sick because its hot my boss would laugh at me and then tell me to get my precious princess arse in like everyone else.

"In the UK, a heatwave from June 19-22, 2025, is projected to cause an estimated 570 excess deaths, with a disproportionate impact on the elderly and specific regions like the West Midlands and London. This surge in mortality is attributed to the extreme temperatures exacerbated by human-caused global heating, according to researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Imperial College London. "

A quick google could have told you that current high temperatures are expected to cause excess mortality.

"Public health alerts are typically issued when temperatures reach 28°C. Higher temperatures, particularly those in the high 20s or low 30s, can be fatal, especially for the elderly, infants, pregnant individuals, and those with pre-existing health conditions, according to the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine."

So what's your suggestion close down the country

Eh?

What a bizarre comment.

My original post was in response to poster who said something along the lines of 'we'll all be ok'. I was pointing out that some people are not ok in very hot weather.

The appropriate response to my response to you was 'ok, I didn't realise that'.

Well then your boss may have some expensive employment tribunals heading their way.

It's ignorant and arrogant to assume everyone is affected by heat in the same way.

Heat literally leaves me paralysed. There's nothing princessy about that

But i do realise that vulnerable people need to take more care of themselves during extreme weather but I dont see what that has to do with not wanting to go to work which is what this thread is about. Drink more water, stay out of the sun, dress appropriately, take your inhalers, up your salt if needed etc etc

The whataboutery comment wasn't aimed at you. Sorry if it came across that way.

Again - my initial post was a response to a comment on this thread that 'it will be fine', because obviously it won't be fine for some people.

My other response was to you suggesting that previous excess deaths from heatwaves were only because the temperatures reached 40 degrees. I pointed you to the recommendations that the current temperatures pose a risk to vulnerable populations. You then responded with a snarky question about me expecting the country to be shut down.

Quite!

OP makes out she's got a more important job than anyone else, even others in the NHS.
Oh, but my patients have PTSD and are suicidal. So do many more going in for appointments, but worforces are not coming to a standstill, people manage.

Where's your ability to adapt or are you always looking for an easy way out?

If you can't manage an appointment due to bad planning, that's on you.

You'd think OP was asked to conduct the appointments in a hot kitchen, where even then, people manage 😆.

I don't necessarily feel hot. But where I live we get 90°+ in the summer and everything is air conditioned. I find if I get out of the car where the air conditioning is on, and then I walk across a parking lot where it's 90°, and then I go inside a store where the air conditioning is on, I get really sweaty and red-faced even though I don't really feel overheated.

Not necessarily, think more the PTSD and suicidal patients who've syched themselves up to go in for the appointment despite the weather, only to have the appointment cancelled because people like OP didn't plan ahead.

We've all known it will be hot but put plans in place.
Like many have said, there are worse jobs for heat and OP went for the wfh option, instead of suggestions to make it less uncomfortable.

It's a domino effect, if OP is granted wfh because of the heat, what's to stop all the other office based employees asking the same?

Totally agree it's lack of resilience and planning.

How are all the nhs workers and teachers coping today did you all melt or did you put you big girl pants on and cope. Sorry to the teachers and nhs workers who arent moaning and dont think their life is so much harder then everyone else's but its all you ever hear on here. Im a nurse or im a teacher and im so hard done by my life is so much harder then anyone else's blah blah blah

Where did I say I wasn’t going in? Of course I went in for my clients and I would have seen them online if they wanted to? MN is a very strange place sometimes.
I never said my work was more important than anyone else’s, I said about the complexities when people were saying about being in a kitchen!
Thanks to everyone who had a bit more sympathy/ good advice.

However, as my commute to work was approximately half of its usual traffic I’d say lots of people DID choose to wfh today and I don’t blame them one bit.

Also more people die of cold than heat here

I thought I had it bad today… school kitchen in the sterilising room ( like Turkish steam room!!). Then I remembered how hot hospitals are!!! Cold water on the wrists every so often helps me.

Chuck a bottle of water in the freezer overnight and take it in a cool bag alongside a fridged bottle of water. Absolute luxury when the temp is like an oven.