EUROPE HEAT ....does it put you off going?

halfpint1

I'm in Central France and yes its exhausting and confining from midday onwards. If I didn't live here I wouldn't holiday
here, you can't do much untill after 7 pm

Here in Normandie it is 20 (max 22 today) degrees and 12 at night. Looks pretty much like that for the next 10 days. We could do with more rain though.

AlisonKF

Can anyone explain how some people can deal with temperatures in the 30s and upwards, but others cannot tolerate above 25 degrees comfortably? I am one of the latter, dislike humidity and was brought up in Edinburgh. Does one's childhood influence heat toleration? I am glad my travelling days took me to southern Spain, Italy and Turkey before rapid climate warming. At 86, I know high temperatures are unwise.

I'm a bit like that too, and I was born and brought up just outside Edinburgh. We regularly holiday in Turkey, although never in peak season, and I'd be struggling to cope in the current heatwave. I'm usually not too bad as long as I can have some shade and I drink loads of ayran when I'm there, which helps replace the salts you lose too. I find the heat more of a challenge these days as the medication I take is known to affect you that way.

Mamie

halfpint1

I'm in Central France and yes its exhausting and confining from midday onwards. If I didn't live here I wouldn't holiday
here, you can't do much untill after 7 pm

Here in Normandie it is 20 (max 22 today) degrees and 12 at night. Looks pretty much like that for the next 10 days. We could do with more rain though.

Same here in central Eastern France.

Even in France, and certainly in Europe as mentionned in the OP- it just depends where you go and there are huge variations.

I certainly would not go to the South of France now, or South of Italy, Spain, Portugal, etc.

Mountains are great at this time of year- something the Belgians and Dutch have ong realised and who come in large numbers every year.

We are enjoying the beautiful views in these last mountain stages of the Tour de France.

sodapop

Would definitely make me cancel the holiday, I cannot tolerate heat above about 25 degrees.
I'm in SW France and it's creeping up to 30 here. Fans are working overtime.

Yes, 25 degrees is my comfort level too. We went to France a few years ago and it was so hot that I decided never to go abroad in the summer again.

We have a terraced holiday home at the seaside in the UK, built several hundred years ago and it is much cooler inside there than in our home where I now use a portable air conditioner and a tower fan on really hot days.

cc

sodapop

Would definitely make me cancel the holiday, I cannot tolerate heat above about 25 degrees.
I'm in SW France and it's creeping up to 30 here. Fans are working overtime.

Yes, 25 degrees is my comfort level too. We went to France a few years ago and it was so hot that I decided never to go abroad in the summer again.

We have a terraced holiday home at the seaside in the UK, built several hundred years ago and it is much cooler inside there than in our home where I now use a portable air conditioner and a tower fan on really hot days.

Yes cc I have a victorian terraced property up on a hill above the sea and it is cool in the summer with it's sea breezes and East/West facing location and warm in the winter.. a nice house to live in..

Many houses in France and other parts of Europe, have very thick stone walls and shutters to keep heat out in summer, and cold in winter. Like ours, 16C. Today was 24C- and it is now 16 - perfect.

It's 15C outside here and probably 20C indoors - and I've got goosebumps!

It's DGS's long awaited school trip to Italy right now. They left yesterday. The school took the decision to go ahead with it but with a different itinerary. No sightseeing in Rome or Pompeii. Very disappointing for the children but prudent. Children whose parents had travel insurance which would cover their cancellation were given the choice to stay home but all wanted to go.
Good luck teachers!

25 degrees is my ideal so I would absolutely hate the temperatures over there.In fact yesterday was only 17 but sunny with a light breeze and I was outside nearly all day dog walking,gardening and sat out reading. I came in when it rained briefly which was excellent as all my plants got a soaking .British weather suits me far better. Next year we are having a big family holiday in Portugal in August. It has to be then due to GCs at school and DD is a teacher. I would have much preferred to go in May but the majority wanted August.I'm already hoping it's nowhere near as hot as the 40s!
And like a previous poster I worry for the poor wildlife and strays with these extremes.

Back in 1999 we had our last family holiday with our children and decided to visit my family in Tuscany Italy. Due to work commitments we had to go in August.
I discovered then why my granny called it il mese della morte.
There had been no significant rain since May, the temperatures were around 42° most days during our 3 week stay and never dropped below 29°at night.
The ground was parched and the forest surrounding our holiday home was on permanent fire watch whilst we were there.

As others have said, we adopted the Mediterranean way of doing things whilst there. It didn't spoil our holiday but certainly curtailed what we planned to do.

Even in Tuscany, weather and temps vary hugely. Where we go every year, the resort/agriturismo is up on a hill up in Val d'Orcia. July and August is full of Romans who come to escape the diabolical heat. Totally different to the lower valleys and seaside. 25-29 during the day and always cooling at night. We go either early June or early September- when it is even more comfortable.

We had a storm early morning and it cooled down everything- thank goodness for the Tour de France riders who came quite close to us today.

The Guardian had an article about people living in Texas. Being the USA pretty much everyone has air con but they are having to run 24 hours a day because it's so hot at night and people are finding their air con is breaking down. Once again the old and the poor are being hit worst. They are having to pay for the electricity to run the units and they are faced with bills of several thousand dollars to replace them.

Has anyone visited the Jura mountains of middle Eastern France? (as per Tour de France today)?

Yes, I was there 3 weeks ago. Spectacularly pretty scenery and wonderful walking . Already very warm days in the mountains but a marked difference in the night time temperatures - almost like a change in season, while we were at around 3,500 feet.
Here on the Med’ today, I came indoors after a late and swift potter in the garden, feeling very hot but not surprised since it was 32 degrees at 8pm. The photo was taken just outside the tiny commune of St Disdier.

Glad you enjoyed it Grandmafrench. I am of course biased, but I do love it. Much nicer than the Alps which can be very stark- and you can walk all over the tops, for the best views of ... the Alps and the lakes.

Greece wildfires… very upsetting for the holiday makers and the Greeks trying to save their homes..

I’m a pasty Northern European and quite happy to remain so. I have never sought to travel to warmer climes in the Summer months. Even so, I have been diagnosed with malignant melanoma. So it’s hat, parasol and total cover up for me even in the U.K.

I despair when I see people gaily swanning around with hardly any covering in severe temperatures. With hotter temperatures and a thinning ozone layer, they surely do not realise the risks.

Pale and interesting is the way to go…

No, it doesn’t put me off going. I wouldn’t choose the school summer holidays, more because of the number of tourists, but I would go. Life’s too short to be ruled by the vagaries of the weather, and I’m quite heat tolerant, I’d go sightseeing very early mornings if it was very hot, and take a lot of books with me. I also love eating outside in the evening and that’s a pleasure when it’s very warm. My daughter is in Italy at the moment, and she’s doing the same.

Bea65

Greece wildfires… very upsetting for the holiday makers and the Greeks trying to save their homes..

Yes, amongst all the holidaymakers who had reached safety, even if their holidays had been ruined, was one tourist who reminded us that the Greek people were in danger of losing their homes, businesses and livelihoods.

Fleurpepper

Has anyone visited the Jura mountains of middle Eastern France? (as per Tour de France today)?

Indeed I have, I au paired there in 1969.
I think it must have been one of the coldest, wettest summers they had had, all the more shocking for me as I had started the job at Les Issambres on the coast near Fréjus, but after a week Madame announced “Now we go to my chalet in the Alpes”
As I had taken not much more than shirts, shorts, sandals and my bikini etc, all my hard earned sous went on clothes!
However the scenery was magnificent (when you could see it through the mist and rain -even snow!) and I enjoyed trips to Briancon, over some stunning passes, and over to a Italy (where Madame bought her shoes) and drank copious amounts of very good hot chocolate.
A bit like it’s been in the UK this weekend.

That was just bad luck. But the Jura and the Alps are very very different. The Jura is like molar teeth are to canines. Rounded and flat on top- and much gentler in nature. You can walk all over the 'Crêtes' - the crests or tops, with magnificent views, something you can only do in the Alps is you are a very fit and young climber. Much greener too. But since 1969 - the weather has changed significantly, and we have had fabulous Summers. Never tooo hot, and always colling down at night. And pristine lakes and rivers to swim in, and a multitude of large open pools too.