I heard a Brit say the other day it was scorching out. So I asked how hot it was, they said 25 degrees C. I laughed so hard I almost fell from my chair. Where I live it was 33 degrees at that time and had been 39 degrees earlier that week.
The problem with British heat is that it’s very humid, which is a lot worse than a dry heat. I’ve hardly felt a dry European 40°, but anything over 27° at home (Sheffield) and I’m just flobbing about trying to cool down.
Fair enough. It’s probably just what you’re used to then. I remember being over in the Caribbean a few years ago, someone got out of the sea and went “it’s cold”. Cold I said? You come to England I’ll show you cold.
Cue the northern Canadians scoffing at my definition of cold.
It’s not often over 25° here so we’re not used to it. Plus our houses are designed to keep the heat in and the cold wet out.
The other commenter is right, but another problem is that our homes and cities are designed to trap a lot of heat in. So while it might say 25C on the weather apps, it can get up to 40C inside. Come to the UK during the summer and you will understand.
It’s because you don’t know how to manage it. For a short term, few hot days, the trick is to air all night and shut everything up early in the morning as soon as the temperature starts rising. Your house will trap cold just as well as warm. But British people think that open windows = colder so they mess this up every time. I lived in the UK for the last three summers, in a perfectly ordinary row house from the 70s. It was fine with normal heat management strategies that one would use in eg Germany. Yes, if a heatwave lasts a long time this strategy will start to fail, if you can’t cool properly at night, but it works for at least three days of over 30°.
I heard a Brit say the other day it was scorching out. So I asked how hot it was, they said 25 degrees C. I laughed so hard I almost fell from my chair. Where I live it was 33 degrees at that time and had been 39 degrees earlier that week.
Troubleis , the UK is a massive sponge that spends 75% of the year soaking up all the rain, which it then gives back to us whenever the sun comes out.
Dry or humid?
The problem with British heat is that it’s very humid, which is a lot worse than a dry heat. I’ve hardly felt a dry European 40°, but anything over 27° at home (Sheffield) and I’m just flobbing about trying to cool down.
Extremely humid, we were at 86% around then.
Fair enough. It’s probably just what you’re used to then. I remember being over in the Caribbean a few years ago, someone got out of the sea and went “it’s cold”. Cold I said? You come to England I’ll show you cold.
Cue the northern Canadians scoffing at my definition of cold.
It’s not often over 25° here so we’re not used to it. Plus our houses are designed to keep the heat in and the cold wet out.
The other commenter is right, but another problem is that our homes and cities are designed to trap a lot of heat in. So while it might say 25C on the weather apps, it can get up to 40C inside. Come to the UK during the summer and you will understand.
It’s because you don’t know how to manage it. For a short term, few hot days, the trick is to air all night and shut everything up early in the morning as soon as the temperature starts rising. Your house will trap cold just as well as warm. But British people think that open windows = colder so they mess this up every time. I lived in the UK for the last three summers, in a perfectly ordinary row house from the 70s. It was fine with normal heat management strategies that one would use in eg Germany. Yes, if a heatwave lasts a long time this strategy will start to fail, if you can’t cool properly at night, but it works for at least three days of over 30°.
I had the same response when I went LA a few years ago. It was 24 and I thought it was boiling all the LA people roared with laughter
english weather is so mild that they as a civilization havent really got to good heating and cooling yet
We’re good at heating, but yeah not great at cooling. Thing it it’s only really an issue for maybe 4 or 5 weeks in a year in total. So far.