Met office RED WARNING for extreme heat.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

General discussion is www.mumsnet.com/talk/weather/4583720-we-need-to-talk-about-the-weather-and-the-potential-for-extreme-heat but I wanted this to be seen by as many people as possible.
www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings#?date=2022-07-18

That's lovely of you :) You can buy cooling towels which you wet to put round necks. Also because dehydration is a big big issue in elderly people, how about some nice cordials to encourage her to drink lots?

Fans need to be used with great care when temperatures are over 35c - they can make the situation worse and cause further dehydration, so really should only be used with a wet sheet or similar round the person.

But mainly I think just a phone call when it's hot and listen for any signs of confusion or discomfort.

@BiasedBinding yeah, I've been surprised at the lack of imagination shown by some on this thread. What about vulnerable people in the heat? Hot countries don't send their kids to school in July and their buildings are designed to be as cool as possible whereas ours are designed to retain heat!

And if it was the other way around and we were going to have a cold front of -20 would people still say 'oh it gets that cold in Canada, we should carry on as normal'. I hope this makes the govt think about introducing a maximum temperature employees can work in because some people and companies are determined to ignore the warnings and carry on as normal. 40 degrees in this country has never been normal.

Rules about when water goes off. www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/water/water-supply/your-water-supply/interruptions-to-your-water-supply/

Water companies must issue 10l/person/day after 5 days that rises to 20l/day/person. (got that wrong the other day)

@AuntMarysPinny also, perhaps a fruit basket with fruit with high water content might work nicely for her? helping make sure she's eating something whilst taking in more fluid.

pull your fridge a couple of inches further from the wall.
it need cool (ish) air circulating at the back or it will stop working.

Australian here and we didn't have air con growing up. Not sure if our school did, can't remember. All our bags and lunch boxes were kept outside.

Freeze your kids drink bottles, they'll melt over the day and help keep them cool. Or freeze a juice box and stick that in. We always use insulated lunch bags and stick an ice brick in.

Loose cotton clothing. Wide brimmed hat. Carry a spray bottle with you if you have babies or toddlers, give them a mist every so often.

@AuntMarysPinny your pharmacy might have boxes of Hyrdalite Ice poles that you put in the freezer. Good for loss of fluids

Thanks OYBBK. We’re not too hot up here today but hope they get it sorted before tomorrow. All local shops now out of bottled water and supermarkets won’t be far behind. We have some from after the last time that are still in date and some out of date ones we kept that can be boiled or used to flush the toilet.
I’ll nip round the older neighbours later to see if they need a bottle.
Cooling neck towels and showers are out, though!

Hydralyte Electrolyte Ice Blocks that should say!

Latest model mush by TheWeatherOutLook

@xyzabchij beautiful part of the world, sadly UK going into its usual melt down!

@BiasedBinding holidays for us are about the sun or the snow. Can't imagine anything worse than spending 5k+ to be cold and wet in a European spring or winter. Each to their own if you don't like the heat at least you get less crowds. You can be annoyed about the heat, but we can also be excited for a few proper hot days.

I'm going to drop our decent fan off for my nana, if we got this every year would buy a couple of portable AC units! I'm in a few pool Facebook groups as that's our garden goals, the amount of Americans that have big above ground pools is surprising so that's an option to cool down.

FGS it’s not about going away on holidays.

www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/understanding-climate/uk-and-global-extreme-events-heatwaves

No substantial change to the models this afternoon. GFS pushes temperatures up to 38/39 over parts of central southern Enngland over both days and does increase temperatures a little more around York, but I'm not sure it has much cross-model consensus for the increase in extreme temperatures.

I've just been round and dusted all our electronic equipment, especially around the vents. This includes tvs, our router, cable box, monitors, laptops etc. I've also moved our router and our cable box out of cupboards and placed them on coasters being careful not to block vents. I've separated any electronics that generate heat.

Also brushed the cat, to get rid of her extra hair.

Our long haired cat is flaked out on her back with her legs in the air and making litte whiffly snoring noises.

It's really cute.

Our curtains are all shut and we are having a cold salady type dinner. When I can bothered to go down to the village.

Our mediterranean tortoises are out there living their best lives. I'm not sure whether to keep them in on Mon/Tues or let them get on with it.

I've been doing some reading. GFS does have a known warm bias in summer heat, so it may be overcooking things by a degree or two.

Interesting
just trying to plan as I will have to work on the basis I'll be better outside than in my sauna flat.

I'm a bit concerned about this COBRA meeting, I wonder if they will make some mad decisions.

Thank you for this, we have lost water supply.
Have to say that talk of water fights is slightly annoying

It's interesting, there's massive variation in the forecasts for Monday for me still. I am Ipswich based, so estuary-ish but not really coast. Met Office has a max of 30 for those days which is pretty relaxed really, I'm quite happy in those temperatures. Whereas my phone has 34 degrees both days, and BBC 35 and 36 - which is much hotter and definitely at the point where I would be needing to start taking precautions around e.g. my trip to work etc.

Don't worry about the cobra meeting, it will be part of the heatwave plan. They started holding them earlier this week and now that we are at a Level 4, all the involved agencies will be reporting to cabinet. They will be monitoring not just the forecast but all the resilience of various organisations, including how the NHS is coping, how water, rail and power supply companies are coping. They will be judging what more resources will be needed for example.
We might not have a functioning government, but the various other organisations and the civil service will still all be doing their thing.

Would they be discussing schools in the cobra meeting do you know? My daughters school is opening as normal and I’m in two minds if I should keep her home or not! She doesn’t do well in the heat, I’m worried it will be unbearable for her. Her attendance is not good for various reasons do I have to bear this in mind unfortunately

I expect they would be discussing schools. I don't think they would give a blanket close all the schools edict. Instead, I would expect them to pass the latest information on to local authorities, who would then advise head teachers.

On the fan thing - how serious is the issue above 35? My kids usually sleep with fans but looking at night temps a lot of the night will
be above this!

Id actually never heard of it until I saw the DfE guidance ( I guess because can’t have been many situations I’d have actually been using a fan at above 35 before this!)

That just isn’t true.

Insulation works to keep a building warm in winter and cool in summer. Is your home is insulated against the cold, it is also insulated against the heat. (Wrap up an ice cube and see what happens.)

Secondly, homes in hot countries are not necessarily built to stay cool, that is a huge and inaccurate generalisation. As an example, the average Australian home has an energy rating of 1.8 which makes it much like a tent in terms of weather proofing.

Nor are classrooms in hot countries air conditioned. Fewer than 10% of classrooms in Spain have air conditioning. Fewer than half of schools in Australia have air conditioning. 15% of schools in California have ventilation systems that meet the state’s own standards.

That aside, no one should be in a classroom with no air con on a 40C day. In fact anything above 27C is very uncomfortable. Children learn best at 22C-24C.

Insulation does work both ways but in hot countries houses/flats are built with verandas/overhanging rooves/shutters to stop the sun striking the glass and that makes a huge difference in terms of thermal gain.

Hot countries don't send their kids to school in July and their buildings are designed to be as cool as possible whereas ours are designed to retain heat!

Decent housing stock, well insulated, and with lots of mass to act as a heat sink or reservoir should protect against extremes of both hot and cold... contrary to some assumptions being made some parts of the world, including quite a bit of mainland europe does get both.

Problem we're seeing in our part of Europe now is the new builds are paper thin and lightweight relative to the old stone built houses so funnily enough within months of being occupied the external walls start sprouting A/C units...