When did the narrative around warm weather change?

[Katypp]

It used to be considered a lovely thing if we had a warm summer. Older people (me!) have happy memories of summer 76 and endless days playing outside in shorts during the holidays.
No it seems to be considered a bad thing, with people complaing about the heat, getting agitated about children going to school or even going outside at all. Weather forecasters wanging on about 'staying hydrated' as if we are children and delivering the forecasts as if it is a bad thing that we can enjoy nice weather for once.
Why are we so joyless, sucking on to bottles of water as if they were dummies and seemingly afraid to venture outside in case we self-combust.
Yes i know ow global warming and skin cancer but our reaction to a pleasant day is somewhat OTT i think.

What I can't reconcile is how many people complain about our crap English weather but also complain when we get weather akin to that of the places they pay to holiday at.

Unfortunately, due to my job, I cannot avoid being outside in hot weather. The only air-conditioning that I come across is in the newer tractors and JCB.

Sounds like me! I foolishly agreed to drive one of the mixers the other day when it was 32°C as customer had asked for an increase and I was having a quiet day.

Got stuck on a bucket job trickling concrete into the smallest excavator bucket you've ever seen. 1.5 hours standing at the back of the truck in direct sunlight wearing a hardhat/gloves/long sleeves whilst the excavator driver faffed around in his nice air conditioned cab. 😩 The sweat was pouring down my face!

Agree, it's summer, won't be here for long.
Well have months of dark and cold and expensive bills.
Patronising too, keep telling people about hats and suncream.

I have red hair and burn in less than five minutes in this weather. My eyes sting with sun cream and my whole body is sticky with it. I take medication that impedes my ability to deal with heat. So far this week I’ve been on the verge of heatstroke twice (no sweating, unable to think straight, upset stomach and muscle aches). I can’t breathe properly because of humidity and hayfever, and i feel claustrophobic an nauseous most of the time. I feel depressed, drained, and generally shit. i don’t mind warm weather - up to about 20 degrees or so - but this humid oppressive heat is hell for me.

I love the cold, it makes me feel healthy and alive. Surely you can understand that people have preferences ?

But everyone flocks abroad??

Makes no sense

But it’s the humidity in Britain - horrible! Another one here who prefers cooler weather. Low 20’s lovely. High 20’s - 30’s too hot.

They sent kids home from one of our local schools. And we wonder why kids aren’t resilient any more

@quirkychick ahh I was living on the south coast too in 76 so seems my recollection is correct :-)

I am surrounded by yellow dried up fields instead of the usual lush green fields - really sad to see sheep and cows trying to find fresh grass and farmers worried about crops.

food prices will go sky high as a result

I had to check I hadn’t accidentally ended up on grans net

all this nonsense talk of “back in the good ol’ day”

“Kids these days aren’t resilient”

today’s generation is “pathetic”

honestly, I’m a 44 year old woman with two teens. If I ever start talking like some of the posters on this thread, I hope the end is quick!

In 1976 there wasn’t an awareness of global warming amongst the general public. We knew about the hole in the ozone but that only affected Australia so we just made the most of the long summer after typically rainy summers. Water consumption wasn’t a high then either as most people didn’t have showers unless it was one of those that you attached to the tap. Twice a week baths were more the norm

Not everybody. I've never been on a "hot" holiday. It doesn't appeal at all.

I spend most of the summer feeling ill because I have such bad hay fever that I can't breathe, I have to avoid outside for most of the hotter days and I'm permanently checking the pollen count, for me it's a miserable time of year, the other night I was awake most of the night because my eyes were burning and streaming and I was coughing so much I was sick that was from just having a window open for a short part of the day, I much prefer it when it's autumn and winter and dread summer every year

You have kids OP?

Do you spout this kind of view re the good ol days and how “back in my day” and how pathetic the current generation is you think?

Some people do need reminding about hydration. My cousin is a carer for the elderly in their homes and they've had to get in extra staff, because quick visits are turning into calling ambulances and picking dehydrated clients up off the floor. The warnings on weather forecasts aren't aimed at people in their 20s brandishing Stanley cups on the tube.

If all I needed to do with sit by the pool, swim in the sea and relax in lovely restaurants then I would like hot weather.
But unfortunately I and a lot of other people have to work and get on with daily life in high temperatures.
The fields around me are scorched, there is potential for fires and crop failure, water shortages and believe it or not, excess deaths. Lots of people and animals struggle in hot weather - I don't really understand why this is surprising to so many - especially those harking back to a summer almost 50 years ago.

The narrative changed when we got 24/7 news and info via the internet.

They need to talk about something and the hot weather is an easy story to go on and on and on about. It costs nothing and is a good story for the intern to write up.

The weather at the moment is warm, but not record breaking and in fact is pretty far from it. In fact the highest temperature on Saturday was about 6C below the record.

Just as the web goes on and on about the hot weather, some "newspapers" seem to predict "killer snow" every other week in winter, forums give people the possiblility to have outlets to moan which they never used to have. So they go on and on about it.

You won't find the majority on the forums moaning though. They will be too busy outside enjoying the weather not typing on the internet. So there is probably a selection bias towards people that hate hot weather posting rather than people that like it.

Totally agree about 24/7 news. The media go scalp hunting to try and generate more news. They’re all untrustworthy and looking for a gotcha moment

Agree with this, the relentless overload of articles and 24/7 access to them has really made a lot of non events into something major. There's also the loaded rhetoric around global warming which doesnt help.

In 1976 we were advised to strip wash with a basin of water (I can hear the squeals of horror from some Mumsnetters) or share bath water (when the water wasn’t’t turned off!). Baths were certainly discouraged. And as for washing clothes after every wear, forget it.

Weren’t we told to have no more than 4” water in the bath 😦

While not minimising the effects of climate change AT ALL, I asked my mother if she remembered scores of people dropping dead on a daily basis during the hot summers of 1975/6 and 1984. She said no.

Yes the water shortage was a massive issue.

As for the drama, clicks mean revenue don't they? And people are more likely to click on dramatic headlines.

A little thing called the net zero con.

Yep. Climate change got a jump on that year.