How will things change if our summers keep getting hotter

My son & family are moving this summer to another property in Surrey. The new house is to be extended and they are really keen on installing air con during building.

New builds should face east west instead of north south, and be fitted with external shutters. Shutters can go on a kind of latch so that they can be opened about six inches.

They should be built around a communal pool, with someone appointed to look after it.

Air con should be installed in lounges, kitchens and bedrooms.

When one of my children was a tiny baby we had a long heatwave and I used to put her cradle on the floor with wet nappies ( with water not wee!) draped round her on a clothes horse and a fan going across the wet nappies. In those days we didn’t have air con, couldn’t afford it.

MollyNew - agree about the plants. I live on a farm in the SW, a site of special biodiversity, and over the two winters I've had here I've been charting the success of plants I would never have thought would have flourished outside all year round. The big surprise for me has been bougainvillea which I had in abundance in my long-term holiday home abroad. Last June I bought three from the local garden centre and planted them in very large pots on my patio. I failed to bring them inside over the winter and thought they were lost after the two storms in January, but now two of them are in full colour (I did lose one).

I guess the only ones who do not mind this hot weather are those that can afford all the things needed to stay cool! My long haired cat & I are sharing a fan that has seen better days! It still works, just about! I have a sort of friend who is much better of than I am & regales me with all the things she has got to cool down under, move with her to anywhere in her house, just turn on & enjoy! Maybe if we all had some of her money we could do the same! Anyone want to go round there tonight when she is asleep in her nice cool bedroom & cool down at her expense? 😹🔥😂🔥

Not getting hotter in Scotland......exvept for the odd day

^I have a young couple of volunteers from Brittany coming in a week or so to help me with some house and garden chores.
I'm sure they will appreciate our cool weather here in Scotland.^
👍 definitely Grammaretto!

I must be a dinosaur then - I like the cold air my ( built in 1890) bungalows old double glazed windows let in, it refreshes any stale air. I’m nearly 80 , and remember the 2 month heatwave of 1976 (50 years ago). Could fry an egg on the pavement then. And the winter of 1963 - over 6’ of snow ( living in Berkshire)
This is only the 4/5 th really hot day of the year so far. I live in Cornwall and apart from those few days, it’s been pleasant. I’ve just taken my own BODY temperature and it’s currently 37* - 12* higher than outside.
How many of the new electric red ‘hopper’ buses have any windows that you can open? None in my county. Is it any different in other parts of the country?
My point is, we can all remember the years with an abnormal temperature/ weather and still talk about them. It’s being able to work around heat/ cold and it’s not rocket science to find a solution.
Just going to sit in my south facing garden with my knotted handkerchief for my head, and a lollie to cool me down.

I have a young couple of volunteers from Brittany coming in a week or so to help me with some house and garden chores.
I'm sure they will appreciate our cool weather here in Scotland.

I've just come in from the garden. It was too hot.

Interesting ideas on here. 20 years ago people round here were complaining about ugly solar panels and ugly wind farms. Now we are so used to seeing them, we take them for granted. Good thing too.
It proves we can adapt.

Yes shocking.
It's not the south of France suffering this time Helter-skelter, although it's hot there.
Its up in Brittany where we are, 42°, unheard-of. It's irresponsible to build a massive hospital without aircon on the wards.

We will all need to live like moles and go underground.

MartavTaurus that is shocking. And has surprised me. Our heatwaves are, so far, unusual occurrences. But S France is usually very hot in the summer.

I agree, air con is a temporary solution but not the answer to the bigger problem.

If we are going to continue to get hotter I think it’s a bit of a bigger problem than simply installing air con.
It’s our infrastructure we need to be really worried about.
We need our water, power, transportation and food production to be able to cope.
At the moment I’m not sure that they are ready, especially the water companies.

How do they design hospitals in S Europe I wonder.

Certainly with flaws in Western France where the temperature todau is 42°. There's a massive new university hospital under construction in Nantes and air conditioning is not being installed in any of the rooms for patients, though they will have (hot) south facing views overlooking the River Loire! You couldn't make it up!!
Apparently it was a decision taken to save on running costs.
I think they'll be paying more to put this right in a few years' time than a few hefty energy bills!

AGAA4

We will need to have air con in our homes, workplaces and schools. People would be unable to function properly in 40+ degrees.

Not for me, I find air conditioning quite unbearable, it's so drying for my eyes, my skin, my throat etc., Even when I worked in Turkey for 13 years I had no ac in my apartments, I used the AC in my black car simply to cool the car down enough to actually get in it, then when I was driving I would just have the windows open.

DH was in hospital for a week ln June/July 2024. The air con was broken and not fixed. The ward was at the top of the hospital just under the flat roof. They had a few fans but they could not cope with the heatwave that week and only pushed hot air around. Dangerous for the patients. Bad for the staff and for us visitors.

DH has vowed never to go back to hospital and has a Do Not Resucitate Respect form based mainly on that experience. The heat was one of many horror stories of that week.

We cannot have hospitals and schools overheating. Wide windows and the position under the flat roof was architectural madness. I hope any new hospital or school will have climate taken into account.

How do they design hospitals in S Europe I wonder.

It’s not that long since friends laughed at me for having air-con in my car, now it’s common.
We have two portable air-con units at home, but few new homes in the UK have it installed. I’m tempted to have it properly installed in my flat - but if I did I’m sure that our hot summers would immediately end!

"How will things change if our summers keep getting hotter?"

Well hopefully I'd stop getting calls to claim a £7,500 government grant to put towards a £20,000 heat pump which costs £300 a month in electricity to run and doesn't produce hot water on demand. Last year I replaced my still working 19 year-old combi-boiler for £2,900 and which cost me £90 to run all my requirements last month, Think of the savings the government could make!

I imagine that in the future architects and builders will be taking a fresh look at new builds and be taking some inspiration from our south European neighbours.
When we lived in Spain our house was clearly adapted for the heat with its shuttered windows, tiled floors, use of marble, covered porches etc.
There were very few soft furnishings and much use of white and very light colours. To be honest it wasn't too great in the cooler months as there was no CH, but the cooler months were few.
The AC was very welcome.
And we had the use of a pool.
Shame not to be making more use of solar panels however.
This should be very much government driven right now

33 here outside and 29 in the bedrooms at the moment. Had to close rest of windows and blinds a couple of hours ago as the sun moved round, in the red alert zone for next 2 days and already wilting.
Always feel sorry for anybody in hospital at times like this, must be horrendous for them. When my late mum was in hospital a few years ago in a hot spell the ward was full of flies, really dreadful for the patients.

Hopefully it won't continue to break temperature records year on year now - the respite may come as the AMOC stops warming our waters and as a result we get long cold winters instead......☹️

butterandjam

Norah

Air con certainly helps make life pleasant.

Of course; so does central heating in winter.

They both cost money to run.

So pensioners who can't afford to heat and eat , maybe can't afford to be cool and full in hot weather.

I understand.

However, portable air cons exist. Cost is relatively low, machines lower temperature/humity quite well.

Might be a good solution for some people.

Our primary school installed blinds and Aircon in all the classrooms that faced the sun several years ago. The governors were discussing aircon for the remaining classrooms. After holding interviews in the head’s room and holding a meeting in the staff room, the go ahead for installation in those two rooms and the office has been approved.

They were quoting temperatures for 2056 on the News last night (45 degrees).

I just thought, “Well, I won’t be here then”.