Scorchio...

[T42]

It was 33°C at 11 am this morning.  38° slated for this afternoon.  The angle between barn & house is a great sun-trap: you could fry an egg on the concrete apron in front of the barn doors.

[andyoxon]

Here in Oxon twas 31C today, only the second warm/hot spell of the year so far.

Anyway, that's the summer then, the nights will be drawing in again within a couple of weeks...   

[spesh]

<The Fast Show: Chanel 9>

Buono estente.

Apparently, we've got nimbo cumulos forecast for later this weekend.

Boutros Boutros Ghali.

</The Fast Show: Chanel 9>

[Mr Larrington]

Chris Waddle!

[Wowbagger]

31.4°C in our garden today. The car's thermometer claimed 33°C whilst we were driving along the M25 in the vicinity of Potters Bar this afternoon.

[Jaded]

It is hot in That London. Lots of almost naked people in the parks.

[cygnet]

Scorchio, or Skorchio?

NB spoiler may or may not answer the question

(click to show/hide)

https://youtu.be/kZMUAd7OJc8

[andyoxon]

Guess that means it may hit 40C in places...

Screenshot  - BBC Weather by a oxon, on Flickr

38C forecast around here.

[Macleach]

<The Fast Show: Chanel 9>

Buono estente.

Apparently, we've got nimbo cumulos forecast for later this weekend.

Boutros Boutros Ghali.

</The Fast Show: Chanel 9>

Nimbo cumulos? Status Emergencia El Presidente!

[Mr Larrington]

Feththethethethe! Chris Waddle!

[“That's easy for you to say! – Ed.]

[Basil]

Lovely to use all the up to date, modern technology to dry my laundry today.
Solar Energy and Wind Power.
 

[Hot Flatus]

I realise that the elderly may not be included in this, but is anybody else a bit baffled by what looks like hysteria over 35⁰, when at the end of next week many will choose to jet off in seek of such temperatures?

[Kim]

I realise that the elderly may not be included in this, but is anybody else a bit baffled by what looks like hysteria over 35⁰, when at the end of next week many will choose to jet off in seek of such temperatures?

No, because there's a big difference between 35C in a country that's designed^[1] for it, and 35C in a country that's designed for about 10C.  And that's before you account for the effects of humidity.  The people jetting off in search of such temperatures are doing so by choice, they're the ones who enjoy such things.

People are going to die.  Many more will experience Type 3 Fun.


_{[1] Architecture, infrastructure, working practices, culture, etc.}

[Hot Flatus]

What are the design features of a 35⁰ country? Having been to many, including the Sahara in August, twice, I'm scratching my head to think of any other than a big snooze in the middle of the day and ice cream at midnight.

[rafletcher]

There certainly wasn’t the hysteria in 1976, a heat wave and drought I worked through (in a bloody great tin shed in WH Allen’s in Bedford. We got water coolers and salt tablets.) And maximum temps were similar. Maybe forecasting wasn’t as accurate, so there wasn’t the doom laden premonitions. But, yes, there will be excess deaths as a result of the heat,  in 1976 Wikinaccurate says something like 20% over a 3 week period. We’re getting 3 days this year. And we’ve had similar low 30’s spells over the last couple of years with barely a mention. I’m not really sure why this event has triggered the outpourings. That said I’m not one for great heat, and thankfully it looks like (unlike today) there will be some breeze around.

[Kim]

What are the design features of a 35⁰ country?

Assuming this isn't actually trolling:  Simple things like verandas or otherwise overhanging roofs, windows that open inwards with shutters on the outside, rendering in reflective colours, ventilation by something other than a chimney, that sort of thing.

We're getting some of that in commercial building design (usually wanky design features that serve to shade the windows), but BRITISH houses are still styled after those designed for Victorian winters, because aesthetics trumps practicality.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Buildings in hot countries have lots of shade and allow breezes through. British buildings tend not to have verandas or suchlike.

[Kim]

There certainly wasn’t the hysteria in 1976

2003 is more comparable, I think.

[rafletcher]

There certainly wasn’t the hysteria in 1976

2003 is more comparable, I think.

Maybe so, but again, I don’t recall this level of advance hysteria about it. 

ETA and that’s probably because the Met office set up it’s warning system in response to that heat wave.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

I remember a fair bit of media concern in 2003.

The heatwave broke in France the night before PBP03 and I was very grateful. A 100km ride above 35 degrees the previous day completely wiped me out and I expected to become nocturnal to have a chance to get to the finish line. PBP03 was a lot of fun in normal temperatures.

[Kim]

I don't think the Met Office warning about severe weather (with a side order of 'look - climate change!') counts as hysteria.  It's their job.

The media will do what the media does.  Pictures of sunbathers alongside headlines about 40C temperatures seem to be giving way to articles explaining how to avoid heatstroke, which is an improvement.

Anyone familiar with BRITISH infrastructure will know that relying on trains next week is foolish.  I expect there will also be chaos on certain roads, as even if the tarmac can cope, a proportion of vehicles won't, and you only need a couple of overheated cars to cause a traffic jam.  I expect we'll see localised disruption where electronics has insufficient cooling - businesses being unable to process payments because their server has shut down, sort of thing - not unusual, other than it happening in lots of places at the same time.

The NHS of course was struggling already.  It isn't really news, but it won't take many sick old people and drowning victims to push things further past breaking point.

[rafletcher]

I remember a fair bit of media concern in 2003.

The heatwave broke in France the night before PBP03 and I was very grateful. A 100km ride above 35 degrees the previous day completely wiped me out and I expecting to have to become nocturnal to have a chance to get to the finish line. PBP03 was a lot of fun in normal temperatures.

Media concern in the UK about the UK (I know France was badly hit)? I certainly don’t recall it, not to say it didn’t happen. And I’m not looking forward to the temps much myself, it just seems the press have gone to town.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

I wasn’t reading French-language news and I recall there being a fair amount of BBC coverage leading up to and into the heatwave.

[Kim]

Media concern in the UK about the UK (I know France was badly hit)? I certainly don’t recall it, not to say it didn’t happen. And I’m not looking forward to the temps much myself, it just seems the press have gone to town.

My main recollection of the reporting of the 2003 heat wave was that it focused heavily on trains not running in That London, the M25 melting, and assorted records being broken.  The usual stuff that goes in between the politicians doing politics, a war that's not too boring and the sportsball.

I was mostly busy moving out of my Canterbury student house to the People's Republic and having serious breathing problems.

[ElyDave]

I don't remember the heatwave of 2003, but I do remember one more recently (last 5 years or so as it was at this address) where I was heading out for a ride to be back home by 7:30 and it was already hitting 30C. 

I was also working at home the day of the current record, in an un-airconditioned office with no forced ventilation and even with window and back door open it was absolutely brutal, and I'm really not looking forward to it next week.  It's a real concern for those who have trouble regulating temperature, including my son - I expect he'll be staying in his room where we have a portable air con.

BTW I've been in hotter, in the Algerian desert, and the water was falling out of me as quickly as I could put it in, call it media hysteria if you like but it is not a scenario to dismiss out of hand.