760 die in UK heat wave (mostly under 90°), because only 0.5% of them have AC

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At it's hottest last week (its been a cold weekend so far) it was 37c in my flat during the day and 25c during the night with 70-80% humidity. The heat wasn't much of a problem on it's own except for a couple of weeks there was no break from it, it was always hot. I like a hot day, just give me a cold night to chill in.

This would have been the only time in 5 or 6 years where I would have used aircon.
 
saunderez said:
Only 90 degrees F? Wow. People dying from those temps seems so foreign to me, as an Australian living in the north east coast that's 2/3 of the year for me. Fans are a must, even if they're just crazy cheap pedestal fans. That and hydration. AC is nice and all but opening the windows and circulating some air with a fan cools things down enough most of the time.
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You are acclimatised to that heat as it is a regular temp for you ........ why is this so difficult for all the "tough" guys in this thread to grasp?

Regularly you would be lucky to break 20c for the few weeks a normal UK summer lasts.



It's not always the peak temperature that does the damage rather the sudden increase from normal conditions that makes it hard to handle.
 
Showaddy said:
I suppose the problem of a country with such variable & unpredictable weather is that you're never really prepared for the extremes.
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It's really that. I grew up in a region where we have extremely hot summers and extremely cold winters, with lots of snow. We know how to deal with the heat in the summer and the cold in the winter, and almost none here has air conditioning.

760 people sounds extremely high, and I'd go out on a limb to say that it's not because of the lack of AC which in the UK would be about as useless to install as a central heating in the Sahara but not enough water, not enough shade and oxygen flow.

I feel very very bad for all those affected.

M_Night said:
High temperatures + increased alcohol consumption - water = death.

The large increase in the volume of Alcohol consumption must play a part with dehydration n all.
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It's more the fact that people who drink lots of alcohol in the heat are more prone to ignore dehydration and just go into the sun instead of staying in the shade. A common problem at festivals and very dangerous. Even if they drink enough water to compensate, the direct sun exposure is too much for most as almost no one wears a hat.
 
For anyone who didn't click on the Wiki link for the 2003 heatwave, here are approximate estimates for deaths

France - 14802*
Spain - 13000
Germany - 9000
Portugal - 1866 to 2039
UK - 2000
Netherlands - 1500

* - official figure released by the Government


Lots of countries who experience much hotter summers with a lot more deaths. Go figure.
 
Finally we get some sunshine and people start dieing. I'm kind of appalled with how little people consume water here.
 
Lol heat wave, this is nothing, everyone here can't stand a little heat. These past few weeks have been heavenly, if it was regularly like this I would consider not moving in the future,
 
Dan27 said:
For anyone who didn't click on the Wiki link for the 2003 heatwave, here are approximate estimates for deaths

France - 14802*
Spain - 13000
Germany - 9000
Portugal - 1866 to 2039
UK - 2000
Netherlands - 1500

* - official figure released by the Government


Lots of countries who experience much hotter summers with a lot more deaths. Go figure.
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And 600 dead in Chicago alone in 1995.
 
Jburton said:
You are acclimatised to that heat as it is a regular temp for you ........ why is this so difficult for all the "tough" guys in this thread to grasp?

Regularly you would be lucky to break 20c for the few weeks a normal UK summer lasts.



It's not always the peak temperature that does the damage rather the sudden increase from normal conditions that makes it hard to handle.
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This is probably true. I live in the U.S., but I went to a college that was literally in the mountains. It was pretty much cold seven to eight months out of the year. I remeber we got a blizzard in April and another time that it was snowing once when I was moving back in for the start of the spring semester.

The locals that lived there all their lives would walk around in cargo shorts and t-shirts in 30 degree weather like it was spring or something while everyone else froze their ass off pretty much.
 
happens in the southern states of Australia every year when the heatwaves hit.
usually old people that keep themselves locked in their houses.
 
We get the same complaints with snow, "we can't deal with it, other countries can". Look at Texas, they can deal with the heat. Look at Sweden, they can deal with the snow. Well, they are pretty much guaranteed that weather for long periods every year. We get these 'extreme conditions' once every few years - do you really expect the government and individuals to invest large amounts of money into infrastructure that is barely going to be used?

As for the deaths, I believe the figures are those where "heat MAY have contributed" - not a definitive figure. Thousands die every winter due to the cold as well.

We should be concerned for the elderly though. I often recall in hot weather, seeing elderly people going out in coats, probably just because that is how they always go to the shops. I imagine some people have set routines which they just follow, maybe walking to the shops, having a drink at X time etc... and don't realise that they need to make changes due to the heat.
 
Must be all that warm beer.


We had our hottest summer on record earlier in the year but I don't think I used AC once, despite having one in my room (power bills are killer). It's uncomfortable but as long as you drink water and stay out of the sun it's fine.

The cold though, fuck that. The AC goes on the minute it drops below 10C.
 
Drink drink drink, UK. It does not matter if your body does not ask for it, but every hour or two you should at least drink down a bottle of water, especially if you are outside. Humidity and extreme heat drains you so fast.
 
Not surprised, it's hot. Do find it laughable how many people are confused by the fact we are accustomed to a different climate..
salva said:
I was hanging out today in 108 degree weather today and i didn't give a fuck. 90? What pussy shit is that?
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wow

so furies
wow


i gt 9 probelms but celsius not 1

you feeling lucki punk tough
wow
 
Every year temperatures climb over 40C for several days in Spain. This is a normal occurrence, yet people die. They are mostly elderly folk who think they have the endurance of younger people or forget to drink enough water. It sucks, but it happens. And if this happens in Southern Europe, where summers are typically blistering, why is so hard to grasp that a rare heat wave is dropping pensioners like flies in the UK?

Seriously dudes, it's not that difficult to understand.
 
strata8 said:
When it hit 45C in Sydney this January we closed all the curtains during the day, which helped a lot. I find it bizarre that people have to be told to close their windows during the day.
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Might do. The problem is, the insulation is so good, it is keeping all the heat inside the house. I imagine in Sydney the houses don't have quite so much insulation.
 
Funky Papa said:
Every year temperatures climb over 40C for serveral days in Spain. This is a normal occurrence, yet people die. They are mostly elderly folk who think they have the endurance of younger people or forget to drink enough water. It sucks, but it happens. And if this happens in Southern Europe, where summers are typically blistering, why is so hard to grasp that a rare heat wave is dropping pensioners like flies in the UK?

Seriously dudes, it's not that difficult to understand.
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It comes down to people not understanding differences between countries. Wait till we tell everyone we drive on the left hand side of the road..
 
Tashbrooke said:
Not surprised, it's hot. Do find it laughable how many people are confused by the fact we are accustomed to a different climate..
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It's not that, we understand that you get accustomed to the climate you live in, but considering someone who is used to the heat doesn't die of hypothermia when there's a cold snap its just harder to relate.
 
leadbelly said:
Might do. The problem is, the insulation is so good, it is keeping all the heat inside the house. I imagine in Sydney the houses don't have quite so much insulation.
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A lot of houses in Oceania have notoriously bad insulation. But it works both ways. Any sort of insulation will do a relatively good job of keeping heat out if you eliminate holes (mostly windows). Obviously it's not going to help if the house is already hot.
 
It's funny how many people go completely out of their way to drink things like ice tea or coke with ice, but completely negate the fact that water is the best thing there is in the summer.
 
saunderez said:
I lived there whilst I attended uni, I know exactly what you mean. Its crazy how much more temperate it is where I'm living now, less than 300kms from Townsville.
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yeah, been here most my life, i don't think i could live here without an aircon, its amazing that quite a few people still do.
 
adamy said:
after reading the thread in OT titled something like "I have constant headaches and feel like crap, should I stop drinking so much soda?", I've seriously began to question whether people know water exists.
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I drank water once, it was terrible
 
The concern for me is the kids being taken in with severe burns. It's terrible for them at a young age and they don't know better. Their parents should be making sure they are properly protected.
 
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