Heat

One of the many-opinioned speakers on t'radio yesterday was having a good bluster about "nanny-state" with regard to our promised heatwave. According to him Britions flock to the continent and beyond expressly in order to suffer lap up such temperatures as we are promised so why bother putting fear into folk...

That's all very well but there are plenty that don't and would rather endure our uncertain climate, temperate as it is, myself for one. I can't forget France in summer 2019 when the temperature read 43C, then 45C - I ended up, in spite of copious water intake, in the local hospital with what felt like heart issues, with which I'm familiar. Fortunately it turned out to be heat/gastric-related but it was a worry initially for those around me.

If a government (however dodgy) fails to trumpet such a warning then they will then presumably be accused of negligence. If we are given a few days' warning my Leeds family can make sure their newly-installed velux windows can be covered over while the freshly-dried plaster is painted, and those that struggle when the outside temperature rises beyond that of the human body can plan accordingly.

The UK has a history of being poorly-prepared when it comes to extreme weather conditions, even the London Underground has taken up the idea of carriages with A/C relatively recently. Still few and far between are the snow blowers or local machinery to deal with heavy falls - will this promise of more severe conditions becoming a regular feature change government policy?

Over to you...

Anything over 15c is tropical for me, 19c is tap aff. Anything approaching near 30c would be suicidal for me to venture out in. I remember the heatwave of 76, I was twenty, long blonde hair bleached in the sun, struggling with the heat, but at that age you made an effort to show off to the girls. I had two large blisters on my shoulders, I also remember seeing in black and white for a while, which was a bit alarming. Another hot summer was in the mid eighties sometime, temperatures rose very high then, by this time I’d learnt my lesson and was more careful when out and about.

For me it’s common sense and up to the individual to take control of their own business. I see nowadays on a regular basis people blaming everybody and everything apart from their selves. Too many snowflakes about these days needing someone else to make decisions for them. So there…..

Salt when eaten is said to be the stuff of the devil these days.

Salt tablets were and, I believe ,still are vital to replace salts lost in sweat. I don't mean genteel under-armpit sweat but whole body streaming sweat such as you get working in intense heat.

At sea they were available at every meal once the ship was in hot climates. Without them heat stroke can become a major issue once the mercury rises to the high 30's

Low salt levels can easily lead to a problem such as Edinburgh describes. i have seen seamen flake out with heat stroke and it isn't a pleasant sight.

Hydration too can be a problem, you need to drink far more water than conventional British wisdom suggests. The general guide that we used, was to drink sufficient water to need to pee at least 3 times a day

I pee three times a day.

Unfortunately, 1.00am, 3.30am and 6.00am

From experience gained on several trips in The Sonoran Desert, USA I can tell you that when you hit over 37- 40'C you can take in water all day long and still end up in extreme trouble. When we sweat- the body also ditches essential salts and electrolytes. Some people more then others.

Heatstroke can hit some people - even in the shade resting with water in their hands.

Isotonic drinks, or electrolyte tablets is what you need in these heats if you want to remain functional. Obviously keep taking in the water. Avoid too much alcohol- as you all know its a diuretic-and will make you loose more fluid then you take in.

There is a reason why other countries talk about mad dogs and Englishman going out in the midday sun..no-one else would do it!!

There is a whole separate discussion to be had about "nanny state"....common sense is like any muscle - you have to use it to make it stronger. Sadly as I get older I look around and see most people becoming so ignorant of self reliance-you simply can't help them. Visions of the lady trying to fill up a refuse sack with petrol come to mind...

Hope this info helps anyone out there who is suffering..

Best,

MM

In my welding days at the oil yards a team of us welders had to go inside the leg sections for back gouging and miles upon miles of welding. Twenty minutes was the time allowed no longer, then out and a drink of salty orange juice (electrolyte) Working conditions were not ideal. It was over 40c inside the leg, and we had to wear breathing equipment and we had leathers to protect us from the sparks. Plenty of overtime was to be had, money was the bait. The craic was great, so was the pay. There were quite a few of us who lost weight during the next few months. Happy days though.

It's sitting at 38 in the shade here at the moment(14.45) we may see 40 in another couple of hours.

I was working by 6am this morning demolishing some walls by hand then carting out into my trailer then off to the dump. Two runs.

Hard graft. 2 litre's of water and a Bannana then home on the stroke of midday. More water,tea and lunch,more tea,more water.

Drenched in sweat. Two T shirts and two hats drenched in sweat.

All the house is closed up with shutters on all windows closed. Cool like a/c inside.

Same again tomorrow. Should only be about 34 then.

"Aye, when ah were yoong..."

Hovered at 34 in shade this afternoon here in Ed. - now down to 32

The 35 at the mo in my office, but the car registered 37 on the way back up from Mid Devon late this afternoon.

Might go for another drive with ac on just to cool back down!

Not in these temperatures, I suspect!

Sitting comfortably at 24 degrees, in the RV with the a/c running .......... engage smug mode

Bought new washing line, then worried about getting it in the car, then remembered the ski hatch, shouldn't have bothered it's raining.

Anything over around 14C makes me uncomfortable, so this heat has been unbearable for me

I went to a motorsport event on Saturday and even though it was good, I burnt to a crisp and am now in pain with sunburn and peeling, etc.

Shame the air con doesn't work in my Coupe as I think I might have lived in it for a few days otherwise

Orkney is the place for you T

I've survived the apocalypse

I've been working in the mancave, er, cellar, and when the temperature outside was showing 41C it was a nice 22C in the cellar, no heating or cooling.

(Though the beer's a bit warm...)

So the chips aren't frying at least.

Pleasantly enough, when the temperature outside dropped to the low twenties - soggy and wet - the cellar dropped to... 20C

Don't forget the pool in the garden

A few years back when we had the 38 degrees in Cambridge, our house was unbearable. We tried film on the windows and that didn't work. We then bought a portable A/C unit for the bedroom, I modified a window for the exit pipe, so didn't need a window open and it cooled the bedroom nicely. But it was a bit too noisy to sleep with.

A colleague listened to me talking about installing split units, he didn't dither and ordered, followed swiftly by me!

Some of my neighbours took the mickey and made thinly veiled suggestions that it was a waste of money, for just two or three days a year

Well it's not just been the heat of this year that has provided a good degree of "Smug Mode Enabled"
The local council have also just spent the last two weeks scraping off our road surface (Dust Everywhere) and then re-laying a really smelly new road surface. Just the sort of thing you would like to keep your windows closed throughout.

Thunder and lightning here at the moment, and here comes the rain.

The heat, open windows and the M25 coming back from Brands Hatch this afternoon have finally finished off any pretence that the coupe's headlining is attached to the backing board.

Drawing pins will temp repair until you plan to do the dreaded and fit new material.

Thanks Joe, hadn't thought of that.

Years ago , when Morris/Austin 1100s were current production cars, I drove a British client's 1100 from our base on the Canal de Nivernais in central France to the base he was handing back the hire boat near Meaux, east of Paris.

The day was hot like it was yesterday so all of the car windows were open. Most of the journey was on 2 way Routes Nationales with heavy goods vehicles coming the other way a couple of feet away.

One came by doing about 50mph and the next thing I knew was that there was a blast of air followed by a sucking noise and the entire roof lining had come off and was resting on my head. The vacuum from the truck slipstream had been too much for the softened glue.

Afterwards I was talking to a French friend's father who had the franchise for BMC cars for all of Francophone West Africa who said there were no 1100s with head linings there as BMC refused to accept there was a problem with the glue and hot climates.

Way before the days of vehicle recall

Mine sagged in 2018, then is 2019 on the 25th anniversary trip to Turin like yours the air pressure sucked the rest down which lead me to a quick fix with drawing pins, did the trick nicely for a couple of years.