People trying to carry on the drama after a heatwave

[Summerbreezeplease]

I know this is probably a stupid thing to get annoyed about but aibu to think it’s ridiculous when people keep trying to carry on after the heatwave is over.

Over the past few weeks we’ve had two mega heatwaves here, well over 30 degrees. I really struggle with the heat myself. I can happily sleep with the bedroom window open all year round and never have more than a 9 tog duvet on as I run hot.

But even when temperatures have dropped to a perfectly reasonable Summer temperature.(it’s 19 degrees here), some of my friends are still complaining how hot it is and that they can’t cope.

Dh is refusing to put the 4 tog duvet back on the bed as we will be too hot apparently and has not only the windows but the front door wide is open.

People are asking if the schools will be back open.

It’s forecast to be 25 degrees tomorrow even during the hottest part of the day.

My friend got annoyed with me when I said it had cooled down, she said it hasn’t. Surely there’s an enormous difference between 34 degrees and 25 degrees?

Aibu to think some people are just trying to carry on the drama?

The UK is not anywhere close to those places in temperature. It’s not remotely comparable. Human beings cooling mechanisms are overwhelmed at an internal temperature of 40°C. In 50% humidity it would take an adult 4-6 hours of being exposed to a 46°C air temperature constantly for their internal core temperature to reach 40°C and become dangerous when relatively inactive or carrying out normal daily activities. In 38°C air temperature an adult could do 2-3 hours of more active physical activities before this happens. Obviously it they were trying to run a marathon it would happen far faster, in under 60 minutes, without regular breaks to cool and rest/ rehydration, but nobody sane would do that.

Sitting in a house/ flat with an air temperature in the mid-30s isn’t going to kill anybody unless there is extreme humidity approaching 100% or they are very elderly, very sick already or a very small child, and with proper ventilation opening and closing windows at the appropriate times of day/ shielding windows from direct sunlight etc at the appropriate times of day it will be nowhere will be as hot inside as it is outside so even if the outside temp is 35°C in the hottest part of the day that isn’t the case all day and night and it is possible to keep inside significantly cooler with just some common sense.

As I said, a lot of the world would be totally uninhabitable if everyone died as soon as there are daytime air temperatures of 35°C. And OP has said that where she is now they are mid to high 20s! People making a fuss about that as if it is some kind of extreme are being silly.

I'm not sure why heat deaths in sick, elderly or young children are irrelevant. They are all people too.

What a minute - by "pavement" do you mean sidewalks? Was this is an actual city?

Yes, in general, America isn't a very walky country. I've mostly lived in NYC, though, which is very walky - the lowest per capita car ownership in the country.

Is it pe uniform tomorrow?

That's it here. It's god awful hot still..until it rains I'm done.

They may not be used to it but pretending that a few weeks of summer weather for once means we’re all going to melt or die is very silly when the vast majority of countries have similar weather for a good chunk of most years. It’s really not half the issue that people have made it out to be. And half of the people moaning pay to go on holiday to countries that have exactly this type of weather most summers. 😆

I have been a bit of an over-dramatic weather moaner recently but in the bit of the SE I'm in the weather has definitely been more bearable over the last couple of days. Yesterday, for example, I felt able to go out for a longish stroll with my son, whereas at points last week even stepping into the garden made me come over all unnecessary.

There has been a lovely breeze over the last 24 hours as well, so with windows flung open wide once the sun has gone down enough the house has cooled down enough to warrant only one fan on per room!

However I am quite militant about keeping curtains and windows closed during the hottest times, and I do seem to spend a ridiculous amount of time opening/closing both each day.

Obviously if you have such people in your household you take additional sensible precautions and measures to protect them. But for the general population (the vast majority of people moaning) it really isn’t an issue.

Again, do you think a large proportion of children die each summer in most European countries where this is standard summer weather? Or do they miraculously survive with their parents just being sensible regarding ventilating homes and keeping them hydrated? That’s without even looking at countries that have the hottest climates.

The exaggeration about the difficulty of “coping” with a couple of weeks of warm summer weather is quite ridiculous.

Some people still had 30-34 degrees last week though. We had 28/29 which yes, is cooler than the 37 we had one day the week before but it's still hot.

It is weird though. I took the dog for a "special walk" in a new place yesterday, because the temp has dropped and she is def owed a Big Walk given we havent been able to do a lot recently.

It was only 26 degrees, so i thought it was totally fine. Nice sunny day. "Fine weather" as I would usually describe it.

Except i had to cut it short and turn back hecause it honestly felt like 30++ and she was struggling, and I wasnt comfortable.

So weird. because it was only 26.

Yeah cos thats exactly the same as factory or office work Loads of workers go to work in their bikinis and lie on the factory/office floor 🙄

I’m jealous of your temperature drop!

It’s forecast 27 tomorrow here, lovely weather, but im
not complaining at 35 either

They can be both!

But mine doesn't cool down once it gets hot (new build flat). So it's still 30 degrees inside all night. I can cool it by a couple of degrees with all the doors and windows open, but as soon as they're closed, it's back to 30 degrees again, and it will stay like this for weeks. I can't keep the doors and windows open at night because it's ground floor.

So yes it still does affect me a lot!

We’re still having 30°C+ in the daytime most days. So what? It’s really not considered to be “extreme weather” in the vast majority of the world, much of which has populations with far fewer resources to cope with it than we do.

Just ventilate your home at the appropriate times, ensure you cover windows that get direct sunlight, hydrate yourself regularly, wear suncream and a hat and buy some fans to circulate air inside when windows are closed during the day, if needed. You can even buy portable aircon units now for roughly £100 if you are particularly bothered by summer temperatures. It’s not a big deal unless you have newborn baby or are chronically ill or very elderly (in which case further precuations like the cheap portable air con units may be helpful or you can make the cheap, homemade “aircon” with a fan and ice cubes/ blocks in an emergency, although this obviously increases humidity so if doing this on an ongoing basis a dehumifier is also advisable); or you have a job which involves doing very physically strenuous work outside (in which case your working hours should have been adjusted to be a split shift of early morning/ late afternoon).

I am probably one of the drama llamas you are on about but I've never once asked if my kids school is closed.

The issue is that the house we are in isn't getting the opportunity to dump the heat so it has stored up like a big battery.

It is cooler outside but still sunny so we are still slathering sun cream on or getting burnt and our windows are east and west facing so no bedroom is safe. There's been no wind or cross breeze able to go through the house.

I genuinely feel like I am ill from the heat it is too hot and I just want consistently cooler weather so the house isn't too hot or too cold so I can stop feeling like my head is pounding.

Even when it drops to 15°c overnight inside is still 10-15° hotter and it is awful and it's driving me to distraction.

Sounds like you work in a very strange place. You should speak to your HR department. Probably better to start your own thread.

The breeze has helped a bit but my house is still too hot. Outside under the trees has been the nicer place to sit.

@DrRylandGracewhere can i get these portable air con units? Everywhere i’ve looked has been out of stock for weeks.

The 2022 heatwave caused almost 3000 excess deaths in the UK.
This heatwave is expected to cause 20000 excess deaths across Europe.

Sorry, I’m not a stock checking service! It’s not surprising they may be out of stock currently given they are manufactured and shipped from other countries and most likely ordered in advance of summer to meet expected demand. It’s obviously not going to be a sensible time to be trying to buy one right now.

I am sure Lidl were selling one even a couple of weeks ago for just over £100 and most shops had a range of them in stock then both in stores and online as I saw many advertisements for them.

Or are you angry with me because somehow I didn’t manage to get the entirety of the UK to take sensible precautions, with summer coming up and (presumably) them knowing that they or their family members are particularly vulnerable to heat or will moan like it’s the apocalypse if the temperature is over 20°C for a week or two? I didn’t realise I was responsible for ensuring adult UK citizens are behaving sensibly and are prepared for foreseeable possibilities. Is it a paid role?

Other tips:

Don’t wait until Christmas Eve to try to buy a Christmas tree or turkey.

It’s good to have some basic food supplies and loo rolls etc in stock in your house in case you get ill/ can’t go shopping.

Battery packs and battery powered lights and torches are useful when there’s a power cut.

It’s a good idea to lock your front door when you go out.

It comes in handy to have spare bulbs ready before the ones in use in your house blow/ die.

House insurance comes in handy if you get burgled/ flooded etc.

It’s wise to get your gas boiler serviced before winter so it’s less likely to break down and leave your house freezing cold until you caj get an engineer to come out to fix it.

You’re welcome! 😄

I have a heart condition... keeping hydrated in this heat is vital. It has been a challenge and I have been breathless and flaked out. Some days I felt I might become a statistic .... How's that for drama!?

A lot of these “excess” deaths are simply brought forward, and as stated repeatedly are the result of people not taking appropriate mitigating measures for the conditions/ the effect of failing heath services in the UK rather than the heat itself. Many of them happen in hospitals that are not properly ventilated!!

As for conflating the UK figures with those for Europe as a whole that is disingenuous in the extreme, as I’m sure you are aware already.

And I already have awnings outside to prevent the sun getting to the glass, I have reflective film, I have fans, I have ice cubes, I have a portable aircon with a window seal and insulation around the hose, I open the windows only when it's cooler outside. I have had all these things for months, prepared. And it's still 30 degrees in the flat overnight, and will be for weeks. The air con brings it down to 29.5. It's really not as easy as people make out. No, I didn't realise it would be this bad when I moved it, but also I had little choice to move.

Still hot here. 28 degrees right now.

You are saying properly installed aircon is only lowering the temperature in the room by 0.5°C? Did you purchase an appropriate unit for the size of the space you are trying to cool? Unless the room is the size of a concert hall and your aircon unit is much too low powered to cool the volume of space in whoch you are using it, or your aircon unit is broken, it is difficult to see how this is possible given the laws of physics.