Heatwave in London

[Slimthistime]

Wonder if any knowledgeable folk are about
Is the heatwave in London really not breaking till the weekend?
Before anyone tells me off, the office is boiling, Tube is boiling, flat is boiling. I think there's been 17 days this year already where the flat has been 28 at night. It feels a bit much. I was just really hoping thy might be wrong about it being all week. This big block of flats kind of accumulates heat as well.

Last year we had a frost in May, it does feel unusual this year and the effect on my asthma is not helping.

I'm thinking of taking a cab
I'm really frugal usually but I missed two social things this week anyway so the fare will be about that
Should have kept a closer eye on the weather forecast.

I do the iced bottles on the Tube too but it's no help for the air/asthma problem.

It is the urban heat island that makes it worse - the solar gain has an insulating oven effect. It's the only thing that I dislike about city life. Going to the riverside where at least the breeze can come down unobstructed.

The Boris buses do have air conditioning but it isn't very effective with the huge triple doors opening. I'd say it's more to do with the efficacy of the A/C, I've been on public transport buses in Florida and they're icy, somethings not right, even with the triple door situation, I'll repeat again, not good enough Boris!!
It's lovely sitting in my garden under the parasol. You taking the piss.

Yes London heat is stifling even at a not-massively-high temperature. It's a humid sort of heat that makes you sweaty & sticky. There's no breeze so no coolness coming in. Heat seems to pour out of the walls. The smells aren't blown away so the heavy scent of traffic fumes and fried chicken hangs in the air. Along with spliff in some areas!

And a side effect of the heat is that the saddo lads with nothing better to do than hang out on the streets hassling women are outdoors en masse thinking our shorts are a mating call.

As for the Tube, I've never yet found an anti-perspirant that survives even a short journey. Still at least I know I can't smell anywhere near as bad as the soap-shunners who smell bad enough in cold weather and take on an aroma that perms your nose hairs in the summer!

Some say if there isn't a shower skiver in your Tube carriage you should complain to TFL and next time they will send you two.

Or perhaps smoking a spliff on the Tube should be the done thing as that smell drowns out everything else! And the passengers would arrive well-chilled in one sense at least!

Thermal gain - I talked to the management co about what I might be allowed to put to shield the Windows via the outside. They said it's more about the whole big block being so well insulated ( habit yet dared to find out with what).

I am a weather bore and so far this summer is very hot, ver early, in London at least. Last one I recall like it was in a different flat and different job so must have been ten years ago.

Haven't not habit!!

It's hot all over the country I think, I pity you folk in London though; at least I can sit here with the fan going, the doors wide open and all the windows in the house wide open. Yesterday my phone said it was hotter in my town than it is in Athens

The Boris buses are awful, like a PP said, the ones in Florida are icy cold and it's far hotter there than here.

Surely people in London can do all those things too.

i suppose it depends where they live, where I lived the fumes from the main road were awful and the lack of breeze meant it didn't make much difference, plus i was in the upstairs flat and so had no garden to escape to.

Central London is super-hot today but I have 2 fans going and the blinds part closed so my living room is actually quite pleasant. I was in Kent (near Tunbridge Wells) this morning doing some voluntary work and when I came out to get in my car at 12.30 (car had been there since 9am), the steering wheel was so hot that I couldn't touch it to drive off! Thank goodness for aircon cooling it down! I think everywhere is HOT! And the roads are jammed!

Well High yes
But I live in a tiny box as its all I can afford so not many windows to open! Air outside is hot though so I have closed the windows as I can see the thermostat is making ot worse

I am not central London obvs but in a very densely built area (not when i moved in but now all big blocks f flats radiating heat at each other).

Now I know why posh flats have air con, used to puzzle me but I think it's building density. They probably use it quite a bit.

Oh are the roads jammed? Interestingly quite quiet here, no gardens so probably all at local park.

Slim, I moved to London in early 2006 and that year was an incredibly hot summer. I'm Cumbrian and had only ever visited London in winter before so it came as quite a shock. It stayed hot day and night for weeks on end and apart from a few short storms at night there was no rain for 3/4 months.

If I'm remembering it correctly the winter was quite a cold one then summer 2007 was also hot but not quite as extreme as 06.

People stank on the underground and over ground yesterday. 20 minute delays outside Clapham Junction on an airless packed train, standing room only.
I hate the heat and haven't set foot outside today except to put washing out. 32 degrees on my patio.

It's bad.

Everything is being concreted over and trees cut, for easier parking, cleaning or to look tidier and the temperatures rise even further because of that.

Yep, currently driving past the V&A and traffic is unusually busy. But now have passed Harrods and it emwas quite mr than usual. Cars heat the roads, the roads radiate heat, it all increases the ambient temps.

For those with a bit of spare cash and space, for about £100 you can get a powerful reconditioned portable A/C unit (a bit smaller than a standard fridge).

Last year, as an act of mercy, we bought one for our student son in London (a ginger Scot who can't cope with humid heat at all). It worked amazingly well, he and his flatmates were actually able to sleep.

I have an air con unit but it's so noisy, there's no way you could sleep with it on sadly. I can happily sleep with a fan on though so am used to a bit of noise.

Is there such a thing as a free-standing air con unit? I would happily pay £100 or more for something to keep our bedroom cool at night but we live in a rental with windows that swing out, so I don't know if anything would work since we can't isntall anything permanent and can't fit anything into the windows.

I would like to know as well, pgoat We can't put anything into windows either due to listing status.

Another one in interested in ac units.

You can buy a surround to adapt the window for about £20 on Amazon if you have swing out windows.

www.manomano.co.uk/window-3838?model_id=1777250&referer_id=537135&gclid=Cj0KEQjwyZjKBRDu--WG9ayT_ZEBEiQApZBFuKu3D6G3b-TuDtDXBA1QsJVw2LxYbLjagnOdznVW78caAtFn8P8HAQ

It was uncomfortably hot in the medium sized Midlands town I was in today, so I can only imagine what the bigger cities are like.

I used to wonder how people died in heatwaves, but then I started working as a community carer for mainly elderly people. Some of those blocks of retirement flats are so air less in this heat! If you have someone who already has respitory problems, add a week of no fresh air & there you go!

I do love the summer, but do think that air con should be as standard in buildings as it is in many countries abroad. Especially high rise buildings.