To cancel holiday during heatwave?

[RedLeicesterRedLeicester]

Lone parent of 4 and 6 year old boys. Planning to stay in a eurocamp on the south of France.

I’m totally knocked out by the heat today and I’ve only had one of them most of the day. Can’t sleep…

Due to leave Saturday. Forecast is between 31-34. Just don’t think I can do it. Flying and not planning to rent car.

I believe Rain is forecast next week for many area though. Which is when the op is away

Agree so very much with this!

Op obviously posted for support when she was feeling very overwhelmed and as a lone parent to two young boys, probably hasn’t had enough breaks herself this year, and the heat has done her in. It is tiring when you can’t sleep. That’s perfectly understandable.

Packing clothes and organising your house to go away, and then the journey itself, when it’s all on you, with no one else to help get you to the airport, or carry a suitcase, or help with transport at the other end, or even look after the boys or her bags, while she queues for drinks, or goes to the loo, requires a lot of extra energy she may not have right now,

Then when they arrive, if the boys don’t sleep, or don’t adapt well to the new environment, and she has to keep her eyes out on stalks at the pool and the beach, there isn’t much relaxation for op. It could be all fine but op is understandably anxious that she just doesn’t have the extra inner resources this requires atm.

I can very much sympathise as an ex forces wife that travelling solo with two young dc isn’t always all fun and games by any means. You have to be really on it to keep the dc safe.

And in response to her op, she gets a load of replies calling her selfish and dismissing how she is feeling as if she is simple minded or something. I think posters could be a bit more supportive frankly.

Did you not know the South of France is hot in August ?

You will give your children a nice holiday, cooling down in the pool or sea every day. It will be tiring for you as any holiday with young kids, especially solo, but you will do the best thing you can do for you three as a family.

Don't cancel!

You will enjoy being by a pool, the sea, the food and all the activities.

Better to be there anyway than stuck here in the heat :).

Temperatures in the mid-high thirties in the UK when you have to work are unpleasant. Similar temperatures in the Med on holiday are much more manageable and even pleasant, when all you have to do is hop in a pool to cool off then lie in the shade with a book and a cold drink.

I wouldn't hold back from travelling personally, as long as your car and accommodation have air conditioning you'll be fine.

The only think I would consider is scaling back plans for long days of sightseeing. Pop into towns and villages in the morning when it's cool, visit all the churches and castles and boulangeries you can before the sun gets too intense, then head back to you cool lazy holiday for the rest of the day!

You seem to have missed the forecast for rain next week that’s been all over the news 😉

I think if you book a holiday in August in the south of Europe you must have assumed it would be hot? You can hang out at the pool the whole time and it will be lovely for all of you.

There are lots of posts mentioning that you should have expected high temperatures in the South of France. However, this year is different in that the temperatures don’t cool much in the evenings and night time.
What I found difficult whilst on our usual camping holiday in the South of France was the heat at night, it was really difficult to sleep. My young grandchildren really suffered.
The heat was relentless. It hasn’t been like this other years.
We came home early. If I were you, I would cancel.
Don’t let all the unkind comments upset you. This is an extreme heat wave.

I hope all goes well for you.

Those aren't unusual temperatures for the South of France, or anywhere in southern Europe, in August. I think you should go. There's bound to be a pool or the sea, or both, and air con. And you won't be working, it's a holiday! I think you'll enjoy it much more than you think and I'm sure the kids are excited.

But as people have said, the heat wave breaks after today, and they are not due to leave until tomorrow.

When you booked the South of France for August, which has an average daily high of 29, what weather were you anticipating?

The current 37-40 we have is unusual, especially as it's about 5th heat wave this summer. OP is worried about 31, which is expected.

Why are people going on like it’s the apocalypse on here?? It’s hot. We all need to get on with it.

Why can't you sleep OP? I recently started having sleeping issues (on weight loss jabs) and used magnesium tablets. Sorted the problem immediately. If I forget to take them I wake up overnight again. Try to fix your sleeping if you can and then all will feel a lot more manageable.

I wouldn't dream of cancelling a holiday for kids of that age who are going to be really excited.

I was once taken very ill the day before a foreign holiday, and we had to cancel. One of the worst days of my life. We were all packed, the kids excited, everything ready... I'm tearing up even at the memory of it... my kids trying to put a brave face on it, but crying in their bedrooms. And that was nearly three decades ago

It beggars belief that someone would do this to their kids, over the weather (when the heatwave is going to be over in 24 hours).

Holiday mode as a single parent is still pretty much work mode to be fair!

OP I get it, I took my 3 abroad for the first time on my own when they were not much older than yours. It felt like a huge step but honestly it was lovely. We went all inclusive so I didn’t have to worry about that part and otherwise spent days by the pool or beach and went on a couple of trips to see local sights. It’s one of my favourite memories of them when they were little, and I felt very confident and accomplished having done it all by myself.

This heat has knocked everyone out, but it will feel different somewhere that’s set up for it. Stay out of the midday sun, maybe go to a supermarket and have a loooong browse for French snacks to keep cool! They will have a lovely time and once you’re there hopefully you can relax a bit and enjoy yourself too.

What temperature were you expecting in August?

It will be fine, flying means you won’t have to endure hours on the boiling roads and the site will be set up with swimming pools etc.

Absolutely. Anyone suggesting that she just has to lie in the shade with a book has clearly never been solo parent on holiday with a 4 and 6 year old!

I hope you got some sleep OP. How are you feeling about going now it’s morning?

I've just come back from France with a 10 mo and a 6yo, it is was 32-40 degrees whilst we were there but so much more comfortable than the 32+ degrees we have here. It was nowhere near as humid and the house was much cooler than ours here.

I don't like holidays that rely on Aircon to sleep, certainly not for young children. It leaves us all stuffy.
Can you change to Devon? The beaches are so fun with the rocks to clamber over, the rock pools, huge open beaches etc.

I wouldn’t go but then I wouldn’t enjoy a euro camp type holiday and I wouldn’t enjoy the high temperatures.

What time of day do you take the magnesium?

Just for another point of view. Magnesium had the completely opposite effect on me. It keeps me awake the whole night!

Melatonin gummies have been much more useful, for both me and my teen with adhd. They stop your brain wandering so much. (You can get them online from Biovea)