[News] Heat emergency declared in England

[raymondo]

BBC Breakfast doing their usual “there’s a high chance we’re all going to DIE so don’t do THIS or THIS” - and then doing exactly that - reporting that they specialise in during periods of extreme weather.

The main presenter just looked earnestly down the camera and urged people not to light fires today, then handed over live to a reporter at a campsite in Exmoor who enthusiastically pointed at a smoking fire-pit and said “morning Mike! We’ve got the bacon and eggs on the go already!”

Fire...the continuity producer

 

[Is it PotG?]

Just suffered our first casualty, ice cream RIP.

 

[The Clamp]

Plenty of cloud cover, a light breeze, and it rained last night.
All in all a pretty tolerable and breezy day so far. But it’s early-ish. Let’s see if it was all hysteria and panic (it was) or justified forecasting.

 

[The Clamp]

No, the real facepalm are those who think we are entering a new ice-age any time its a bit cold or that the world is just on the edge of turning into hell any time there is a bit of sunshine.

Obviously the climate is changing for one reason or another (or plenty), and you seem to be in for some quite extreme days, but the eternal banging on the doomsday drum whenever there's a few snowflakes too many or too strong sun beams.. its pretty hysterical (generally speaking).

How can you swing between being a rather nice, funny chap with a healthy scepticism to this lunacy? Odd.

 

[Justice]

Same here. We’ve been up to 35-36 two or three times this year over here already but without any of the pant-pissing seen in the UK.

Two inches of snow or a hot summers day and the Country breaks. When you’ve lived abroad it does some a tad pathetic.

 

[beorhthelm]

Now forecast to hit 40 in Leeds tomorrow. I remember experiencing that kind of temperature in Dubai a few years back; it was too hot to even sun bathe and I recall thinking at the time how fortunate I was to live in a country where those kind of temperatures weren’t possible. No way can this be passed off as “summer”. It’s not normal, at least historically.

My dear old mum quoted the summer of ‘76 line, citing the fact that they had hosepipe vans then, so it must have been worse. That argument of course confuses longevity of the heat with extremity. That summer peaked at 35.9°C, meaning parts of the UK are set to exceed that by a full 5 degrees, or 14%. That kind of increase over and above a period in time apparently remembered by so many for its excessive heat almost 40 years later just has to be statistically significant, doesn’t it?

people keep comparing peaks from 1976. the more significant factor was it was weeks of high temperatures, often >30deg. we have a spike here then mid 20's from Wednesday, low 20s forecast next week.

 

[dazzer6666]

I could understand the panic if it was going to be for two three weeks of hitting 40 but two days really?

100% this……..we must (again) be a laughing stock across much of the world. Blanket news coverage, grim warnings of death and destruction and growing hysteria as a result……for two hot days

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Two inches of snow or a hot summers day and the Country breaks. When you’ve lived abroad it does some a tad pathetic.

The hours people work varies abroad. In France two hour lunch breaks and work later in the day. In Greece everything closes for 3-4 hours but then they work until 8pm.
Houses are painted white to deflect the heat rather than absorb it. Many houses have shutters which they close in the middle of the day to keep the heat out.

 

[The Clamp]

Climate change is happening without doubt, but so is the propaganda war......

Now that I agree with. More to do with news channels cashing in on the recent appetite for catastrophe than climate propaganda.

 

[Yoda]

Coastal areas are helped by sea breezes. Inland areas are hotter, and temperatures can vary according to geography.

The only trouble is, a large urban conurbation like Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton negates the effect of them a little.

 

[BadFish]

Two inches of snow or a hot summers day and the Country breaks. When you’ve lived abroad it does some a tad pathetic.

To be fair though I wouldn't swap 33 in London for 45 in Melbourne. London is ****in horrible when it is hot. The country just isn't designed for it.

 

[Yoda]

Plenty of cloud cover, a light breeze, and it rained last night.
All in all a pretty tolerable and breezy day so far. But it’s early-ish. Let’s see if it was all hysteria and panic (it was) or justified forecasting.

I let my dog out at about 1:30am last night and it certainly wasn't "cool" like the previous nights. You could feel the closeness and warmth in the air.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

100% this……..we must (again) be a laughing stock across much of the world. Blanket news coverage, grim warnings of death and destruction and growing hysteria as a result……for two hot days

In 1976 the heatwave caused a 20% rise in excess deaths. People with blood pressure or heart problems are at risk so the warnings are valid for those people. Be grateful you aren't one of them.

 

[Berty23]

Two inches of snow or a hot summers day and the Country breaks. When you’ve lived abroad it does some a tad pathetic.

I have heard this said so many times. It is ridiculous. We live in a temperate climate. Our infrastructure is set up to cope with a temperate climate. My brother lives in Canada and where he lives they have freezing temperatures from autumn until spring. They cope. Why? Because they have invested squillions in infrastructure to keep the country going because they have to. Does anyone here think that the government should spend a comparable amount of money on infrastructure so that we can avoid two bad snow days once every few years? It would be dumb.

Similar to heat. Our homes are set up to keep us warm. So if they get hot then it traps the heat whereas homes in hot countries are the opposite. We don’t have air con. We don’t have fans fitted when we don’t have air con. We have carpets rather than cold floors. Etc etc.

Our roads and rail are designed for the temperature we live in etc

Freak weather is not about us being soft and struggling. It is that our infrastructure just isn’t set up for it.

 

[BadFish]

100% this……..we must (again) be a laughing stock across much of the world. Blanket news coverage, grim warnings of death and destruction and growing hysteria as a result……for two hot days

To be honest I haven't really heard it mentioned among the deafening guffawing at the sorry state of UK politics. Even that has been diluted somewhat by the lunacy across the pond over the last few years.

 

[The Clamp]

I let my dog out at about 1:30am last night and it certainly wasn't "cool" like the previous nights. You could feel the closeness and warmth in the air.

It was close, no doubt. I was up all night on shift and that rain burst at 2am relieved a lot of the pressure. Had to close the windows at about 4am. A small fan on setting 2 and cool drinks kept me more than comfortable. It’s warm but I don’t think we need head to the capsules just yet.

 

[BadFish]

I have heard this said so many times. It is ridiculous. We live in a temperate climate. Our infrastructure is set up to cope with a temperate climate. My brother lives in Canada and where he lives they have freezing temperatures from autumn until spring. They cope. Why? Because they have invested squillions in infrastructure to keep the country going because they have to. Does anyone here think that the government should spend a comparable amount of money on infrastructure so that we can avoid two bad snow days once every few years? It would be dumb.

Similar to heat. Our homes are set up to keep us warm. So if they get hot then it traps the heat whereas homes in hot countries are the opposite. We don’t have air con. We don’t have fans fitted when we don’t have air con. We have carpets rather than cold floors. Etc etc.

Our roads and rail are designed for the temperature we live in etc

Freak weather is not about us being soft and struggling. It is that our infrastructure just isn’t set up for it.

Totally right. Here in Australia everything is built for the heat. People are whinging at the moment because it is 'cold' by cold they mean around 10c. We have to put a coat on!!!

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I have heard this said so many times. It is ridiculous. We live in a temperate climate. Our infrastructure is set up to cope with a temperate climate. My brother lives in Canada and where he lives they have freezing temperatures from autumn until spring. They cope. Why? Because they have invested squillions in infrastructure to keep the country going because they have to. Does anyone here think that the government should spend a comparable amount of money on infrastructure so that we can avoid two bad snow days once every few years? It would be dumb.

Similar to heat. Our homes are set up to keep us warm. So if they get hot then it traps the heat whereas homes in hot countries are the opposite. We don’t have air con. We don’t have fans fitted when we don’t have air con. We have carpets rather than cold floors. Etc etc.

Our roads and rail are designed for the temperature we live in etc

Freak weather is not about us being soft and struggling. It is that our infrastructure just isn’t set up for it.

Well said. If people aren't moaning about the weather, they are moaning about other people being concerned about the weather.

 

[Justice]

The hours people work varies abroad. In France two hour lunch breaks and work later in the day. In Greece everything closes for 3-4 hours but then they work until 8pm.
Houses are painted white to deflect the heat rather than absorb it. Many houses have shutters which they close in the middle of the day to keep the heat out.

I know I’ve worked in Greece and Cyprus that’s not the point it’s going to be warm for TWO days.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I know I’ve worked in Greece and Cyprus that’s not the point it’s going to be warm for TWO days.

I know that and the warnings are for people to be careful for TWO DAYS. Greece and Cyprus don't have the humidity that we have here.

If you have a heart problem this is what can happen. (it's in old money F)
High temperatures and high humidity can cause more blood flow to the skin. This causes the heart to beat faster while circulating twice as much blood per minute than on a normal day. The greatest risks are when the temperature is above 70 degrees F and the humidity is more than 70%.

Ventusky shows the humidity in Brighton is 80% at present.