Thursday, July 18, 2013

Heatwave!


I woke up to the most unusual text from Jon today:

Good morning baby! It's another sunny day :) xxx

Do you know how often this happens?  Never.  It never happens.  Okay, well, it does happen sometimes - when I was in London for a week in July 2007, I managed to get a tan - but it's rare.  Much of England is actually on a Level Three heatwave alert right now; they haven't seen six consecutive days with temperatures above 30ºc (86ºf) since 2006.

Now, I know a lot of my readers live in places where it gets much hotter and more miserable.  (Hey, Whitney!)  The thing is, weather is relative.  I remember a friend telling me about a late-spring trip to Alaska - temperatures were in the high 50s, which was quite chilly for her, but all the locals were cavorting in t-shirts and shorts because it felt positively balmy to them.  England simply isn't used to prolonged periods of weather in the upper 20s, let alone above 30ºc.  Here's my favorite line from one of the news articles about the heatwave:

"The UK has seen 132 hours of sunshine between July 1 and July 15, which is 77 per cent of the average sunshine for the whole month."

See what I mean?  They're basically in uncharted territory here.  And they don't really know how to cope with it.  Everyone's having a blast with the fun stuff of course; apparently stores are reporting record sales of Pimm's, strawberries, barbecues, outdoor furniture, and sunscreen  After all, a bright evening in the garden can turn even the worst day around!  But it can be quite serious.  Most buildings and almost all houses/flats don't have air conditioning.  Ice isn't regularly given out in "cold" drinks like it is in America.  The cooling systems on public transportation are spotty at best. And between 540 and 760 people have died in England already due to the heat.

I don't mean to be a downer except to encourage you to be smart if you're in England at the moment.  It is gorgeous out there, no question!  London is absolutely lovely in the sunshine, the countryside is erupt in full glorious color - even Wales is basking in it.  I wish I were back across the pond to enjoy it with Jon!  Let's hope that the good weather holds for the next five weeks.  Well, it can cool of a bit between now and then, I suppose, but keep your fingers crossed for us that we have sunshine and warmth for our wedding in 36 days!  In the meantime, I'll remind myself of what I'm missing with some photos from my final days in London just a week and a bit ago...











more like this from my Instagram!

17 comments:

  1. We live in a 3rd floor flat (no air conditioning) and it is the worst right now. It's about 85 F inside the flat. Ugh! xx

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  2. Crazy that your pictures show the heat trapped over the city! (Is that an inversion? I'm not sure of the specifics of meteorological terms.) Our first summer there, in 2010, was warm and sunny (although not THIS warm, obviously!) and I couldn't figure out why people fussed over British summers! Then I was still wearing my down coat in July 2011 and it made more sense, although I didn't mind that weather either!
    I couldn't imagine being in a city flat in that heat, though. Our huge stone farmhouse kept the cool fairly well and I opened windows on all sides to keep the air circulation (which was also when I gave up on keeping Mia an indoor-only cat, as the lack of screens proved futile). But in a flat with limited circulation and no open air? FLEE TO THE COUNTRY!

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  3. oh MAN. I tell Jon that this summer in London is preparing him for his next summer in DC, but he reminds me that the air-con bit is CRUCIAL for survival! stay healthy :)

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  4. wait, they show the heat trapped over the city? what does that mean?


    but yes, fleeing to the country is the best option! I laughed at the photos of British beaches last weekend - totally packed!

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  5. Reminds me of watching people cope with summer when I lived in Seattle a while back. I didn't see anyone sparkle, but there was A LOT of pasty white skin that suddenly showed up everywhere - and went lobster red pretty fast.

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  6. I can't believe the weather over there right now! Even though it's even hotter in Philly, I can't help but be jealous that I'm not in London for this. I just love the way the city completely transforms when the sun is out-- everyone is happy and just wants to be at the park drinking pimm's!

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  7. Enjoy your sunshine, Betsy! x

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  8. They're trying to kill me, I swear. I am just keep inside with two fans on me at all time.

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  9. Heat wave is right! Here in Dublin too! Wowza!

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  10. It's not really that bad! I'm loving this! The allergies part is worse :/

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  11. Sunshiiiiine! Those heat deaths are certainyly sad, but London's heat wave looks much more pleasant than DC's stifling humidity! Yesterday's "feels like 109" tried to crush me. Thankfully, I fought back with AC and cold beer. :)

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  12. 75 was considered hot in Dublin and I lapped up every second of it! You're right, heat is relative. If I was in Texas and it was 75, I'd be in jeans and a long sleeve top. 75 in Dublin and I was busting out the sundresses!

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  13. I do think it's ridiculous that there is no AC in houses or, at the very least, screens in the windows here in the UK (the latter of which prevents bugs from getting inside while the windows are open). I get heat headaches. :(


    It's cooled down significantly today, though, although I want it to be sunny next month for a few reasons!

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  14. First, I think your blog's name is wonderful. Second, I love these photos, and I swear I can feel the heatwave radiating through my computer screen!

    - Rachel @ With Love, Rachel

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  15. I heard it's started raining! Jon was in Suffolk this weekend and said it was mostly gray.

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  16. we are weird people. not you and me, all of us. isn't it a strange thing?

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