Behaviour during the Heatwave

We lived for seven years in Turkey. I used to go shopping to the local market for 8.00am, then onto Tesco (yes, in Turkey) for the remainder. I was home by 10.00 then under cover until 3.30 or 4.00. Plenty of water, ayran (yoghurt diluted with water with a pinch of salt). I kept cool with cotton clothes and walking on stone floors barefoot. The weather was warm and hot for 9 months of the year. Keeping cool and free from sunburn was the ideal.

I love the hot weather and learnt to be sensible.

nanna8

I recommend not coming to Australia between December and late March if you find it hard to cope with warm weather! Especially Queensland and the North. You do get used to it,though. We once spent the Christmas period up in Darwin and after a week or so your body kind of adjusts. You can’t swim in the sea,though, too many crocs.

Well said, nanna8.

A British heatwave is not and extreme weather event. People in the tropics and parts of Australia, etc, live their whole lives in similar and greater heat.

Smileless2012

What never ceases to amaze and infuriate me are the idiots who take their dogs for a walk in the middle of the day in this weather .

Absolutely! We were discussing ‘animal comfort in hot weather’ at a family barbecue yesterday. My grandson has got a ‘cool mat’ for the dog and both his cats and they are a great success. His dog is a rescue that he and his partner only got last week and his fur has been allowed to get matted and thick. So it’s off to the vet tomorrow for a shave, skin treatment and whatever else the vet thinks is necessary.
My daughter and SiL only take their dog out in the early morning or late evening. Luckily, they have a garden where the dog can pop out for a quick wee during the day, but not everyone has that luxury. All animals have constant access to clean drinking water.
It’s difficult with pets. They are sometimes more ‘trouble’ than children, but we wouldn’t change them.

Regarding dogs, why do people take them to shopping centres? We were in York a couple of years ago, it was in the high 20s, poor dogs being dragged around. Never took ours shopping, however they were Great Danes!

What never ceases to amaze and infuriate me are the idiots who take their dogs for a walk in the middle of the day in this weather .

Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun

I recommend not coming to Australia between December and late March if you find it hard to cope with warm weather! Especially Queensland and the North. You do get used to it,though. We once spent the Christmas period up in Darwin and after a week or so your body kind of adjusts. You can’t swim in the sea,though, too many crocs.

Ne’then rosiesmaw, you leave our Albert out of this. He’s a sensible lad - it were’t lions fault. Heat maybe

Don’t forget what happened to Michael Mosley last year walking in full sun on a Greek island.
We need to be sensible - don’t attempt to climb Snowdon in trainers or go skiing off piste when there’s an risk of avalanches or swimming off beaches with a rip tide (and probably red flag)
Or poking lions in the zoo with umbrellas with ‘orses’ ‘ead ‘andles.

youtu.be/oaw-savyK0s?si=AN-y7DRiFfRG8_tM

LOUISA1523

Crossstitchfan

Ludicrous! They are asking for trouble. And if the worst happens, who will have to pick up the pieces? People like my Paramedic grandson, that’s who!

Ridiculous.... its no hotter than Europe holidays spots....so can't obese people or those with health conditions go anywhere hot now? ...your GS is a health professional....he responds regardless ....he won't judge overweight people for going out to enjoy themselves in hot weather

No, you’re right. Of course he won’t judge them. But you are missing my point which is that when people ignore the fact that it is extremely hot, and they have health issues, and still do whatever they like regardless, there are consequences. And while my grandson is out dealing with someone like this, he is not able to deal with heart attacks, strokes etc. One of these patients that he can’t get to could be you or one of your family! I just wish people wouldn’t be so thoughtless.

Caleo

Two adults I know are travelling to a bicycle show today , in an inner city, from their home in a country village. One is overweight and recovering fro a serious stroke early this year. The other will have to push her wheelchair. Both are about sixty years old.

My son said !The world does not stop because there is a heatwave". I'm not going to argue with him , but do I think people should change their habit according to the extreme weather event.

This is not something I'd do. We walk early and late, stay in air con. However, obviously I can't tell others how to live. I hope they're home safely.

I have AF and mild copd. I can no longer tolerate heat above mid 20’s. I love gardening but realise the heat we have currently means walking my dogs by 8am (better for them anyway). I no longer feel comfortable in shade so it’s indoors with a fan

I have 2 heart conditions and struggle when it gets as hot as it has been this last week. I have been indoors all day, fan on, lots of water, sorting out some paperwork and finishing off a very good book. You need to be sensible.

argymargy

This weather is not "extreme". I really don't understand why people get hysterical when the temperature gets slightly nearer the level of what they go abroad every year to obtain!

Except that a lot of us do not go overseas each year to experience it, and just as our housing, lives etc are factored around cooler temperatures, in hot countries their homes and buildings and time tables are designed around their weather.

As for the couple described by the OP, there is making the best of life and there is being foolhardy and putting your health and life at risk and I know what I would class this event as.

My husband delivers for Tesco and a third of his customers were offering him cold drinks, and he was glad to accept a couple of them. It really is very hot out there.

OH worked in Cairo for several years. He came back to UK every six weeks for a fortnight and I visited him at Easter and the long vacation. In July/August the temperature would typically be late 30s/early 40s. I could cope because it was a dry heat. I didn’t go outside between 10 am and 6 pm unless it was in an air-conditioned car. The heat in UK is so humid and I feel like a wet rag all day.

I think it is the level of humidity that gets people. Today it has been between 25-30c here but very humid, so I’ve simply lounged around (I also have a bad back). But on holiday where it is hot and dry, I can tolerate it better although at nearly 80 I am sensible. I don’t want to make a pain if myself.

Next week our holiday destination is showing between 28-32c. We will play that by ear, and if it feels too hot we will not exert ourselves too much.

DH -heart- experienced very hot temperatures in Cordoba one year and it certainly affected him. I toddled him back to the air conditioning where he gradually recovered.

Hmm it would seem some experts would disagree.
Copied from a post I made on another thread.

From the BBC website.

Meanwhile, researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Imperial College London (ICL) released a study that used historical data to forecast the capital could see 129 excess deaths related to this week's hot temperatures.
Across England and Wales, excess deaths from Thursday to Sunday are estimated at about 570 people.

Researchers said their assessment highlighted how extreme heat posed a growing threat to public health in the UK.
Dr Garyfallos Konstantinoudis, lecturer at the Grantham Institute at ICL, said: "Heatwaves are silent killers - people who lose their lives in them typically have pre-existing health conditions and rarely have heat listed as a contributing cause of death.
"This real-time analysis reveals the hidden toll of heatwaves and we want it to help raise the alarm."
He added that heatwaves were an "underappreciated threat" in the UK.

Crossstitchfan

Ludicrous! They are asking for trouble. And if the worst happens, who will have to pick up the pieces? People like my Paramedic grandson, that’s who!

Ridiculous.... its no hotter than Europe holidays spots....so can't obese people or those with health conditions go anywhere hot now? ...your GS is a health professional....he responds regardless ....he won't judge overweight people for going out to enjoy themselves in hot weather

This weather is not "extreme". I really don't understand why people get hysterical when the temperature gets slightly nearer the level of what they go abroad every year to obtain!

I am all for being sensible, health wise.
I appear to be in the minority, even amongst my friends.

Stressing out your body, whether in mind, body or spirit, always seems the wrong way to go, to me.

I understand the concern but a bit of me things go for it. Grab the monent

Agree does not sound very sensible. We are out for Dinner this evening glad we don't have to cook but feel for the staff in the restaurant who do have to. Unfortunately they cannot change what they do due to the extreme weather. Unless of course they opt to only serve salads!

Elaine ,Your post lacks information as you did not say where you mean by "here".

It's pouring with rain here and DH was freezing going to M&S this morning. He feels the cold due to medication. Last couple of days have been warm though.