L’ondata di calore nel Regno Unito raggiunrà il picco sabato con possibile massimo di 34 ° C

I’m going to go live in Asda. Great air conditioning in Asda.

34C isn’t THAT hot and it depends if it’s a dry heat or not. Usually it is.

Unless you have to work, in which case you have my sympathy, then just take it easy and enjoy it.

It’s already 27c where I am and I’m sweating too much already, one of my testicles is stuck to the other two.

The feels like temperature yesterday was 34° around 5pm, lasted an hour or so. I don’t think boiling is an accurate descriptor of how I felt. Or even melting.

The actual air temperature I can cope with but the “wet bulb” temperature (which takes into account humidity) is what makes British heat so sweltering. I’ve travelled to many countries in the summer and the heat is nowhere near as bad as here in the UK. The humidity makes our bodies work harder to keep us cool by sweating but above a certain threshold it becomes impossible. Above that threshold the only way to cool down is to hydrate with water and be in a room with cold air and no humidity. The problem is the way our built environment is compared to European countries which prioritise cooling over heating because of Mediterranean climates where there’s hardly any snowfall. We need to change the way we construct housing specifically so they can keep cool without air conditioning. AC has its benefits but it consumes a lot energy putting stress on the electric grid, the manufacturing generates carbon emissions and are expensive to employ at scale. They aren’t a silver bullet but rather a tool that can help people cope with the heat. The biggest hurdle to mass adoption of residential AC is in bureaucracy. Building codes don’t require them and renters aren’t allowed to retrofit them into their homes. This means that spilt unit AC and heat pumps will only be a luxury for the rich homeowners. There is a grant program for heat pumps which is great but it should be massively expanded to include renters as well as homeowners. Even passive cooling features like awnings or screens over windows aren’t required for new builds which they absolutely should be. Thanks to climate change, heatwaves are not only more severe but also more common and I fear it will lead to excess deaths like what happened in 2022 and 2003.

It is currently 1.3 in my town in Aus if anyone wants to jump on a plane and enjoy our free air con. Jokes aside, hope you all get some relief soon.

Never underestimate the British culture in grinning and suffering through the most unbearable fucking conditions as they mistakenly believe that shit builds character and makes them hard.

I’m an hour outside of London and actually it’s not too bad here today. A modest and cooling breeze, it’s officially 29° but feels more like 26°.

It’s definitely bearable and we’ve had much worse lately.