EXTREME WEATHER WARNING

we lived in a large airy bungalow with deep overhanging eaves and high ceilings.

Many Australian houses were built on stilts (Queenslanders) before aircon to allow air circulation underneath. They also have very wide covered verandahs surrounding most of the house - no-one would sit outside in the sun to eat.

I'm not in a panic - but this extreme heat is unprecedented - so the warnings should be taken very seriously. We may holiday in higher temperatures, but perhaps with better prepared environments (tiled floors, AC and shaded streets).

Covering windows (with anything) makes a big difference, as the majority of heat enters the home through them. I went into detail in the 'Is anyone up? Getting ready for the heat' post.

I do remember the summer of 1959, Calli. Even in Edinburgh it was hot. I had a summer holiday job in M&S on Princes Street and it was difficult to keep cool in the store. I can't remember how long the heat lasted. I remember the 1976 summer more for the drought than for the heat. It didn't reach the temperature that's forecast for today and tomorrow, but it did go on and on... There were fires all over the country and the sight and sound of fire engines became all too familiar. It wasn't too hot for my two boys to spend time in the garden, splashing in the paddling pool, though I did feel guilty about filling the said pool and I made sure that they didn't get sunburnt.

Just spotted, another Brian Bilston gem!

Oops!

Don’t forget your potted plants. It’s not just our pets that need keeping an eye on.

Thanks Maw. That's made my day. Which doesn't say much for my day, come to think of it.

I do remember the summer of 1959, Calli
anno I remember that my SisIL was pregnant, feeling sorry for her and thinking that I might never want to have children!

Well, what do you think we've just been doing on this hot, sunny day?

Cleaning the conservatory! It's only 30C in there so far but a pigeon decided to fly in, panic, shed feathers all around and poop everywhere including on the cream sofa ?.
DH managed to throw a towel over it and put it out but there was a lot to clear up.

He did suggest pigeon casserole for tea but I declined!

I remember the hot summer of 1959. I was still at boarding school and we were allowed to go into the garden after bedtime and read quietly until the day cooled off as our dormitory was far to hot for sleeping. Sometimes Nuns were so sensible and at others completely strange and unpredictable. On the whole though it was happy days and I was quite sad to leave a year later.

Callistemon21

^we lived in a large airy bungalow with deep overhanging eaves and high ceilings^.

Many Australian houses were built on stilts (Queenslanders) before aircon to allow air circulation underneath. They also have very wide covered verandahs surrounding most of the house - no-one would sit outside in the sun to eat.

2 sisters in aus, one had to evacuate in a hurry because of the raging bushfire coming closer. They had aircon but nature had other ideas

Please don`t underestimate the heat. Now ds has helped an old woman he found collapsed from the heat in a scottish city. 30 degree heat all of a sudden today

A disappointing response from Angela Rayner:

Angela Rayner's passionate response as this trans caller asks if a Labour Government would "fix" transphobia in the UK. She replied "trans right are women's rights"

twitter.com/lbc/status/1549000583742455809?s=21&t=qgvRnVgFhJgygk_b4Qxg2w

Labour has a long way to go....

Drat! Wrong thread, sorry!

karmalady

Callistemon21

we lived in a large airy bungalow with deep overhanging eaves and high ceilings.

Many Australian houses were built on stilts (Queenslanders) before aircon to allow air circulation underneath. They also have very wide covered verandahs surrounding most of the house - no-one would sit outside in the sun to eat.

2 sisters in aus, one had to evacuate in a hurry because of the raging bushfire coming closer. They had aircon but nature had other ideas

Please don`t underestimate the heat. Now ds has helped an old woman he found collapsed from the heat in a scottish city. 30 degree heat all of a sudden today

karmalady
I was in Australia at the time of the last bush fires, could smell them and woke in the night to pack a bag just in case.
Luckily local firefighters and farmers managed to get it out (no Fire Brigade there).
It's very scary.

I hope your sister was ok.

Callistemon Your description of houses in Queensland matches those we lived in in Malaysia and Singapore in the 1950s/60s. Long strings of rooms, high ceilings, wide eaves over, effectively a veranda both sides. No windows, just louvred shutters for ventilation at night. These measures were remarkably effective, in the days before air conditioning.

They have fly screens, and the glass windows and doors are usually open unless the aircon is on.

And a large ceiling fan!

Callistemon, they had ten minutes to get out and had 5 puppies and two dogs. They had only moved there 7 months previously and have moved again, hopefully to a cooler part of australia and closer to the other sister. That is three times they have been evacuated due to fire, one time her husband was firefighting embers landing on their roof

It has been quite a long tricky day and I hope everyone is feeling well and coping

Really frightening, karmalady! I could see, hear and smell the fire on the other side of the hill but the volunteer firefighters had been out controlled burning so it didn't reach us.

Apart from clearing up after the pigeon we've been quite lazy!

Sadly a 75 year old man died two days ago in our village. He went out into the shade in the garden to have a snooze and read. He must have fallen asleep and didn't notice it getting hotter. His daughter told me this morning she thinks that he might have had problems with his breathing because of the high pollen count, woken up groggy in the heat and collapsed on the garden path going to get his inhaler. She found him when she went round to make his dinner and the poor lady is in bits as it was so totally unexpected. The police apparently think he had been dead for two hours when she found him, lying just 10 yards from the kitchen door in the sun. So very, very sad.

Oh, that is so tragic! I think he will be one of many. We have already had a spate of drownings, probably caused by very hot people leaping into really cold water and being drowned by the shock. Inevitably almost all teenage boys.

True M0nica. It's sort of put a damper on the village, as he was well known and lived here all his life. Most of his family live nearby.

We all think nothing will happen to us because we're all so careful and competent. It's those unexpected things that catch you out.

That old saying:

prepare for the worst and hope for the best

That is so sad arewethereyet, incredibly upsetting to think of someone dying like that

I have a top of the range air filter unit, it detects pm ( particles) and VOCs (gases such as formaldehyde) and this afternoon, in the heat of the day, the VOC detection went from blue (excellent) to red. I believe that was due to the heat causing molecules in certain solids like asphalt etc to vibrate faster and to be ejected as allergenic gases. I do think that those with allergies need to carry their puffers all the time at the moment