UKH

I'm at home and have had the curtains and windows shut since about 9.30 this morning.  Temp outside is now 40 C, but temp inside is 27.1 C.  Warm, but bearable with fans on. How are you coping?

I've engaged a punkah wallah.

I’ve never been anything less than cool. Why would today be any different?

I'm having an ice lolly

I had an hour in the Foundry this afternoon, and off for a mountain bike ride this eve.

i drink a lot of fluids and sweat a lot!

I took the dog out at 6am (about 19 degrees) and had the windows open to let the cool air in until about 8am, when I closed all windows and curtains. Now about 37 outside but 23 inside which is ok for us. The dog and are in a darkened room... children are playing inside. Have left lots of water outside for the hedgehogs & birds.

I did sneak out for an outdoor at lunchtime which was so good & really recommended.

I just opened the door for the Asda delivery guy and the blast of heat I got felt like when you open the door to check on your pizza and lose your eyebrows.  I'm feeling the temperature indoors creep upwards.  It's horrible. I checked to see if the delivery guy needed any chilled water or anything, but he said he had a stack of drinks in the chiller cabinet of his van.  I asked if I could get in it while he does his rounds, but apparently I wouldn't fit.

I might go and sit in a cold bath for the rest of the week.

I’ve had to come out for work now, but earlier I was putting absolutely zero effort in to staying cool. A nice 18C in the kitchen and only slightly less cool in the south facing living room. Not a single hydrocarbon burned to achieve it. It’s great living in a 250 year old stone cottage. 

Similar here.  3 days of being cool in a heatwave goes some way to compensating for 3 months of wearing a coat inside over the winter

I might actually go into the office early tomorrow...the aircon in some of the small cubby hole meeting rooms is epic.  I'll be a selfish sod and book it out for the day...

Went for a swim in Crummock Water, it has to be hot for me to go in and it was bliss. Plenty of cyclists about and looking cool! Think I will try that tomorrow and then back to work Wed!

I'm not, even inside it is with the curtains closed it is pretty awful. Had to take the dog the vet this morning. The surgery was wonderfully cool, but at about 10am the car thermometer was showing 27C.

However, many others have it much worse. I can't imagine what it must be like to have to wear various protective gear for work.

Hope everyone stay safe.

Dave

I’ve not been staying cool, also not sleeping much prior to a 19:00 until 07:00 shift.

On the other hand, at least I’m not working days and it gives the temperature round here dropping to 27° by midnight. I’m praying I get a truck with functional air con.

Same here, very fortunate. With one end of the house being below ground level almost to ceiling height, it's warm in winter and very cool in summer. Now, where's my duvet? 

An industrial strength air conditioning system doesn't hurt!
Then again, we usually have 8 or so weeks of 105 to 115 in Las Vegas.

 

Similar situation here. Old stone houses have some advantages.

Sat in the garden having a shipyard low alcohol, as a loosener. Jazz in the background. A goldfinch has just landed on a bush. Been taking phone photos of bees and butterflies - seen comma, a common blue (unusual for here) red admiral gatekeeper and small tortoiseshell.  Have just driven from St Andrews on a hot motorway, having my hopes dashed at The Open, this is just the ticket. 

Photos of stuff 

We don't quite have it that bad, I have built up what I hope to be a winters worth of fire wood to be able to keep the thermostat at no more than 15C or so.. we shall find out come the first cold snap!  

I'm struggling, my van said 36c parked in the shade. I don't know what it was where I was working in the sun in a hard hat, viz vest, gloves and safety glasses.

I hate any temperature above 20c

Only one more day to go then it gets back to more normal. Although, in another ten years or so, I fear this could be the new normal. 

Ed: and just seen a hummingbird bee moth!  First ever in my garden, only fourth one I’ve ever seen!

Ed2: a skipper and a large white!! Seven species butterfly !  

Regularly (and carefully) pouring cold tap water into my hair for some top notch evaporative cooling.  I think I might be sleeping with a coupe of wet, wrung towels on me tonight.

Been 37 here today....I have really like it...roll on tomorrow!!

Cold beers now but they don't stay cool for too long outside! 

We're staying cool by living on the coast in Scotland. It still feels unacceptably hot but it's some kind of twisted comfort to know that everything south of us is slowly cooking. 

I’ve got a neck wrap filled with silica gel beads which is great in this weather. Soak it in cold water in the morning and it lasts the whole day adding a nice little bit of evaporative cooling. Looks a bit odd but was wearing it to work regardless. Amazing how much of a difference it makes. 

I'm on my First Aid at Work refresher and the St John Ambulance building in Cardiff has an awesome cooling system. I then went to the gym - because it's got aircon. My living room curtains have been closed since Saturday evening and it's tolerable in there despite being west-facing. Second day of FAW tomorrow, and hopefully that'll get me through the worst!

A pleasant 18 degrees up here in Gairloch and same again tomorrow

Between noon and 7pm, I drank a pint of water per hour.  It helped, but it was still mitheringly warm.

T.

I’m not too bad, but try being an old dog.  My 4 legged companion is a 10 yearl old lurcher and with cold drinks, ice cubes and a damp t shirt he should be ok.  It’s tough on him though. 

I took a 'board patrol'  to rescue a wind blown rubber ring and later a 500m surf swim training session. I didn't dry off afterwards. I also dunked my hat in cold water and put it back on. Same again tomorrow..

The sand was hot enough to burn my feet at midday. Ouch ouch ouch.

Let the rabbits roam free in the garden today, rather than stuck in the run (don't want them eating all the plants and red kites are a potential danger) - they spent most of today hiding in the shade under the hutch and we kept them supplied with an ice pack and cold water to drink.

Anyone else still got a winter weight duvet on?

A school boy error but can't be bothered to go into the loft... 

what's that in new money?

Not sure it was the best option but mountain biked in to Brandy Crag in the Duddon then did some climbs. Actually a pleasant breeze for most of the day, plus a lone tree gave shade between climbs. Frozen water bottles helped also. Then a dip at Birk's Bridge at the end, think it was only around 30 degrees in the Lakes. Day only marred slightly by a high speed blow out on the down hill resulting in an over handle bars crash (could have been bad but wasn't- dangerous game that biking!).

About 12 iced units and the fan on

Highest temperature recorded in the U.K. today was 38 degrees, it will probably be a little hotter tomorrow.

I decided to work from home today. Hit 34 here today, but my living room never exceeded 24, which felt relatively cool.

My wife had an accident yesterday, a fall whilst fell running which resulted in a cut which was deep enough to expose tendons, as a result she is in hospital awaiting orthopaedic surgery. Last night for her was on a trolley in A&E, which was actually OK because it was air conditioned. She is on a ward tonight, but no air con and it was sweltering when I visited. They had to shut down an operating theatre because it was too hot.

115f = 46c

Currently sat naked whilst typing this and with a fan running.
I've positioned the fan at an angle so as to afford maximum waftage to the regions that need the most cooling and that seems to be working quite well.
Outside temperature is 25°C.
Room temperature is 27°C.
As an aside, the maximum temperatures today were 36°C in the shade (Met Office style) and 43°C Sunbake (direct sun). 

Awake....so came downstairs to open all doors and windows as 30 in the house, but 21 outside.  Try to get a bit of cooler air in before shutting windows and curtains for the day once sun is up!  Good luck today!

I live on the coast in Pembrokeshire where summer top temps are normally below 30 even when it gets to mid 30s in SE England. Currently in Oxford and where it got to about 36 yesterday, had to cycle into town yesterday and spent some time there. I was surprised I didn't find it too bad as long as I cycled slowly and sat in the shade outside a cafe in town centre.

It would have been horrible if I had to do and real physical exertion though, so hats off (or on) to any workers who do.

We have windows which fully open, so had both open last night and curtains open too to let the cool(ish) air in. Just had a sheet over us. By 4am I was a little chilly, which was a lovely feeling!! I closed the curtains (but not the windows) and pulled the very thin duvet over me and slept well for a bit. 

Not looking forward to the sleepover shift at work, that window doesn't open much so it will be hard to really cool the room. 

I (and most of the town!) went for a swim in a local reservoir last night, it was bliss. I would love to today too, but will be at work 😕

I've made like Boris Johnson and entered my fridge... And, no; that isn't a euphemism.

Likewise, living in the Northern Isles does the trick.  I even had to put my big jumper on when I went for walk in the evening.

After studying forecasts which said  32* at home in South Lakes we got in the van and went up to Galloway. It was a pleasant 25* next to Loch Ken in the afternoon, but the fresh breeze off the water meant it felt a bit cool in the shade. Not quite hot enough to entice me into the water, but Debbie had a swim.

I know this doesn’t help.

I had three of the grandkids paintings fall off the wall randomly yesterday.  I'm guessing the warmth is pushing the blutac beyond it's abilities and gravity is winning.

They've been up there for at least two years

Either that or a really bored poltergeist

I live up in the Vercors about 5km as the crow flies from Grenoble. It's currently maxing out at about 35° up here at 1100m but mercifully dropping to low 20s at night. The house is staying below 24° with curtains and windows shut and all our floors are tiled so the dogs thankfully are doing ok but one walk a day very early at the moment is all they want. 

Down in Grenoble it's sweltering as is often the case and hundreds of people are driving up daily to sit it out in the Gorge du Furon just below us. Nearly constant shade and running streams  makes it a welcome refuge but the parking is getting ridiculous even by French standards. 

We were in the UK last week and were originally planning to spend a couple of days in a cabin in Dorset this week but plans changed. So glad it worked out that way!

Stubby holder is your friend...the aussies know a thing or two when it comes to keeping beer cool

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=stubby+holder&crid=26J6TFWGSLBWX&spref...

I will probably get loads of dislikes for this, but i recently built a home office/paincave at home and fitted an LG inverter dual heat AC unit. It keeps the room warm in winter and cool in summer.

This is the second day I have had it on cooling since it was fitted and I am amazed how little energy it uses. Have checked my smart meter and it uses far less than the immersion heater we have (which I have since turned off because it only supplied hot water to one bathroom upstairs) . I took the online advice of not trying to freeze the room, I have it set at 23 degrees so it's not working too hard. We all slept in here last night as well on airbeds which was total bonus. It won't get much use, but a god send on really hot days like today.

Temps were very close (reported 36) to record levels (36.1) in Nottingham yesterday. Today at 10.00am its already 6 degrees warmer. Our house isn't great in the heat due to a big SW facing window box in the lounge. Fans on, windows shut and curtains drawn, water heating off... still scorchio indoors. If this happens again I will be externally covering the windows at the front.

ice cream coffee

Just had a brief rain shower here!

I was thinking exactly that at the time....I put a glass in the freezer for a bit which helped!

I've painted the conservatory and south-facing windows with the stuff you put on the outside of greenhouses when they get too hot. It makes a difference and if it feels too claustrophobic you can clean off little portholes.

Top tip for anyone in the same boat looking for a quick, cheap temporary fix for this..

Ordinary aluminium foil will stick very nicely to wet glass (inside or, slightly more effective, outside).  The easiest way is to mist the glass with a plant sprayer and smooth over the foil with a cloth pushing any bubbles out from the centre to the edges.  The surface tension of the film of water keeps the foil stuck to the glass and the foil prevents the water from evaporating.  When you're done with it the foil peels off completely cleanly.

I have air con. Bring on the jealous dislikes!

Sorry to tell you that poltergeists start low to lull you into a false sense of security

Good luck

I've just put a wet towel over the cat stretched out  

She seems very happy but I was surprised.

Just an update on sleep last night. Like a dream, in my own bed and under our normal duvet. I did wake up with a leg stuck out but that's nothing unusual. Dogs are somewhat confused, bouncing around inside the house wondering why they've not been for a walk, then becoming suddenly sluggish when I briefly let them in the garden for a wee. Living room up to 23C today, but still a noticeable chill when you walk in to the kitchen which is lovely. Still zero hydrocarbons burned, or bought, in the name of staying cool.

Today I am embracing the heat and just had a post lunch siesta on the office floor.  Carpet smells weird though, should have brought a roll mat.

After a cold shower late this morning I feel I need to stick my head under the cold tap for the first time today. 36 outside already now on Met Observations site...pretty certain record today for us

To be fair I was planning on taking them down to redecorate soon, so it's a bonus.

Now if they could just move on to stripping the wallpaper, than would be fab

It semi-official... Heathrow has taken the first recorded UK temp over 40 .....

....maybe helped by the hot air from angry customer concerns over the inability to run the airport properly

On a different  heat tack, I thought this was worth more views:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2022/jul/19/david-squir...

I'm looking forward to teatime/early evening... according to Windy the temp is going to plummet by 11degC between 5 & 8pm 🙂

 Now I’m certain tigger would come out of retirement at the sight of rabbits, especially closed in.  

Have to say it sounds remarkably quieter outside today. Just general street / road noise.  I think everyone is in siesta mode.  Don't blame them

Nottingham record seemingly smashed... 38 at 13:00 and it's got hotter since then.

One thing I forgot, I open the loft hatch in hot weather as long as we don't use the oven the downstairs stays okay in out house (27c at the moment and 39c outside).

Upstairs it hot hot hot though and opening the loft hatch let's the heat rise a bit more and takes the edge off a bit.

Remember to put it back before winter though, if you are the only house in the area with no snow on the roof Mr plod will come looking for a weed farm. 

There's an article in the Metro today about some woman doing this with emergency foil blankets.

https://metro.co.uk/2022/07/19/womans-simple-2-foil-blanket-hack-cools-her-...

Bloody hell, that's a great idea.  Loft hatch is getting opened!

Feet in bucket of water and cooling towel round neck.

That seems like a good idea.  Less extreme than the kitchen foil thing if you want to still let a bit of light in.

I've just had a quick look around and I've seen kitchen foil suggested a few times too, but nobody mentioning that you can 'paste' it directly to the glass using plain water.  Perhaps that's obvious, but I'm not sure I would have realised that if I hadn't been told.  It's *much* easier than trying to stick it up with sticky tape or anything like that and more effective because there's no air gap between the glass and the reflective surface.

It's always Cool for Cats

By drinking gallons, GALLONS of water, isotonic drinks, fresh orange, frozen vimto (thanks for the tip wintertree) and yet more water; yet next to nothing coming out on loo visits plus I have a headache, must be somehow slightly dehydrated despite my efforts. clocked a reading of 41 degrees at one stage on the dash.

I went out on the bike this afternoon! And now having a sweaty season at the depot !

We spent Friday / Saturday in Aberdeenshire and Moray then drove down Speyside on Sunday night, relatively cool but Monday in the Cairngorms was melting.

The van was roasting ( unhappy wee dug ). 

Home to the North Pennines today and the house is beautifully cool. Son and mates are BBQ ing out side but I've just had to don a micro fleece  . . . . . 

I’ve been doing this for ages. But my son went ‘it’s so roasting hot up there wouldnt it actually circulate hot air ‘downwards’. And my gut instinct is ‘yes’, so I’ve closed the hatch. 

Been having a passive aggressive "discussion" with my son in law who says it doesn't work. From my reasoning...

A, if the roof space is warmer than the floor beneath, then nothing will happen. The roof is in direct sunlight all day, so the air may be warmer and keep the slightly cooler (but still warm) in the floor beneath. It won't rise... But it won't get warmer.

B, if the air in the roof space is cooler than the air on the floor below, then surely the air on the floor below will rise into the roof space, and the cooler air will transfer downwards?

So the absolute worst that can happen is, the upper floor doesn't get warmer. So there's nothing to lose, surely? 

Seems perfectly reasonable to me, but I'm sure a scientist will be asking to point out why I'm a moron 😂

Mind you, Dax suggested it, and he's an engineer.... 

Agree with point B. But with point A, our roof space is soooo hot there’s no capacity left for it to absorb any more energy and hot air might be forced down. There has to be a limit on how much hot air can rise and fill an already hot space. I think. But I’m officially a failed scientist…

Ed:  most media articles say ‘open your hatch’. But read this discussion;

https://www.diy-forums.com/threads/ot-does-opening-loft-hatch-help-to-cool-...
 

Went caving and wallowed in a streamway until I felt hypothermic then came out. Backfired on me as the heat as I left was like being punched 🤣

Trying to use less energy, more cycling, less driving, no flying, that kind of thing.

Oh, you mean how to stay cool in the short term?

Air conditioned office.

Had a brief rain shower this evening, which dropped the temperature a bit when I left the office at 8pm, but it had risen again by the time I had walked home...

Its 1.30 am and still 25 degrees outside. The bedroom is north facing but I still cant sleep as its soo hot. Had a nice day today keeping in the shade and having a BBQ but the temperature was nuts. Coningsby,  about 20 miles away, hit the record of 40.3°c and you could tell we were close as its been totally bonkers just how the heat was, plus the wind.

Other than a trip to Death Valley and a holiday in Cyprus, I  have never felt heat like it.

I bought a 'tower fan' from Argos today. It's absolutely brilliant, like sitting in a cool breeze. Now have it here, upstairs in my bedroom.

Interested in this. Our house is divided in two and there is the option of installing 2 or 3 of these in the bedroom end to allow cooling in the summer/heating in the winter. How do you find the efficiency of the heating function? I know friends in Norway swear by theirs but electricity is very cheap there. Also installing 2x 4kW solar arrays to offset the guilt.

I would need to do a bit more analysis on the heating function, but I can definitely say it runs very efficiently. 

One thing to take into consideration is installation cost (£300 plus) and annual servicing

You can also buy split systems where one outside box supplies up to three rooms inside, something like this... 

https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/iqool-3ms9k9k9k/tcl-iqool3ms9k9k9k-air...

Also - TESLA rate inverter technology as a very efficient way to heat/cool if using electric power

https://tesla.info/en/benefits-of-heating-your-home-with-inverter-ac-units/

I spent 20 minutes trying to sleep in the bedroom and turned into a sweaty mess, so I slept in the garden in just a pair of shorts.

It got cool enough to come back inside around 04:00.

I've discovered my springer is absolutely mad keen on carrots from the freezer