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Post by no1novice on Jul 15, 2022 22:47:33 GMT
This is just embarrassing - National emergency due to 40C? Heatwave: National emergency declared after UK's first red extreme heat warning A national emergency has been declared after a red extreme heat warning was issued for the first time, as temperatures could hit 40C (104F). The Met Office's highest warning covers an area including London, Manchester and York on Monday and Tuesday. It means there is a risk to life and daily routines will need to change. Speed restrictions are likely on railway lines, some schools will close early and some hospital appointments will be cancelled. On the roads, gritters are planning to spread sand to reduce melting, and the RAC has warned more drivers will need help as cars overheat. Meanwhile in sport, five horse race meetings have been cancelled on Monday and Tuesday because of the forecast temperatures. On top of the Met Office warning, the UK Health Security Agency issued its highest level four heat alert to health and care bodies - warning illness and death could occur "among the fit and healthy". It is the first time a red heat warning has been issued for parts of the UK, although the extreme heat warning system was only introduced in 2021. Downing Street said the alert was being treated as a national emergency, with officials meeting on Friday and over the weekend to discuss the response. The weather at the start of next week is forecast to be warm across the UK but temperatures will be more like 30C in Scotland and Northern Ireland, rather than the high 30s predicted in parts of England and Wales. The heatwave - originating in north Africa - is spreading across Europe and has fuelled wildfires in Portugal, France and Spain. Extent of extreme heat warning  Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said it was "potentially a very serious situation", with a 50% chance of temperatures reaching 40C - likely along the A1 corridor, running from London northwards towards Yorkshire and the North East. The highest recorded temperature in the UK was 38.7C in Cambridge in 2019 and BBC Weather presenter Matt Taylor said there is now a realistic possibility of hitting 40C in the UK. "That is exceptionally hot, the sort of temperatures that if you are on holiday you may be able to deal with but in day-to-day life it can have severe impacts on health," he said. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62177458 |
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Post by Sarzy on Jul 15, 2022 22:54:32 GMT
A national emergency does sound a bit ridiculous lol.
I'm not looking forward to 40c, but at least it's only a couple of days.
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Post by no1novice on Jul 15, 2022 23:01:39 GMT
We've already had an incident of heat exhaustion but due to not taking care. We also work outside a lot so there is that.
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Post by sputnik on Jul 15, 2022 23:37:22 GMT
it's pretty extreme for a country that's not used to it. but you better get used to it because this is just going to be the norm now. i just hope that as long as summers in europe continue to be relatively short, people won't start installing ACs everywhere like in the US, they just make the problem worse.
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Post by MsDark on Jul 16, 2022 6:19:33 GMT
Welcome to my world, Brits.
No national emergency for this here though. We just call it a summer day.
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Post by no1novice on Jul 16, 2022 9:25:12 GMT
it's pretty extreme for a country that's not used to it. but you better get used to it because this is just going to be the norm now. i just hope that as long as summers in europe continue to be relatively short, people won't start installing ACs everywhere like in the US, they just make the problem worse. Given the price of electricity..... My sister messaged me & told me to do it "the European way - curtains & windows shut until it gets cooler". The east-south of my house is very hot but I have a window open on the cool west side right now . |
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Post by sputnik on Jul 16, 2022 12:03:55 GMT
^^^
Yeah, especially if you have shutters. My bedroom faces south, no shutters unfortunately but I leave windows and shades closed all day and it helps. I have a/c but I hate having it all on the time
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Post by no1novice on Jul 16, 2022 21:42:12 GMT
^^^ Yeah, especially if you have shutters. My bedroom faces south, no shutters unfortunately but I leave windows and shades closed all day and it helps. I have a/c but I hate having it all on the time Today wasn't too bad. Only about 35C/92F. I had a Netflix day but a lot of the neighbours were outside & the psycho next door left her 11 year old autistic son in a pool with a foot of water unsupervised. |
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Post by Cartermrc on Jul 16, 2022 23:21:20 GMT
Here's what we used to do before we got a geothermal system in 2002: Watch the inside and outside temps, when the outside gets cooler than the inside, start venting with a window box fan at one side of your dwelling or the other depending on the breeze direction. Leave running all night, then in the morning, shut the windows, until the inside temp rises, repeat. Also, try to cook outside. We made a shallow hole, lined with gravel and used the extra oven rack. Outside shades over windows help too.
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Post by no1novice on Jul 17, 2022 11:11:43 GMT
Boris Johnson skips heatwave crisis meeting to ‘host Chequers party’
Prime minister ‘missing in action’ again – after skipping vital Cobra gatherings on Covid at start of premiership
Rob Merrick
Deputy Political Editor
17 hours ago
Boris Johnson is skipping a crisis meeting on the looming life-threatening heatwave to host a party at his luxury Chequers rural retreat.
Ministers and experts are gathering in the Cabinet Office on Saturday afternoon for a Cobra meeting to prepare for temperatures hitting an unprecedented 40C on Monday.
But the prime minister will be 30 miles away in Buckinghamshire at a party for friends and family, ahead of being kicked out of his country retreat at the start of September.
It is going ahead after Mr Johnson and his wife Carrie had to abandon an earlier plan to use Chequers for a delayed wedding reception after heavy criticism.
Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, said: “Boris Johnson has gone missing in action again. He’s back to his old trick of skipping important Cobra meetings.
“The public will have no confidence in this zombie Conservative government responding swiftly and decisively to this national emergency as this disgraced prime minister prepares to party while Britain boils.”
A Downing Street source told The Independent it was “not unusual” for other members of the cabinet, in this case Cabinet Office minister Kit Malthouse, to lead Cobra meetings.
Mr Johnson’s absence mirrors the controversy at the start of his premiership when he missed a string of meetings on the Covid pandemic as he arranged his divorce and penned a book on Shakespeare, it is believed.
Chequers, a grade l-listed 16th-century mansion and the official country residence of British prime ministers since 1921, boasts an indoor swimming pool and hundreds of acres of gardens.
Formal invitations went out earlier this week to the party, it is thought. A Tory source told Sky News: “It is their farewell bash at Chequers this weekend. Partners and children are all invited.”
It is the second Cobra meeting Mr Malthouse has led on the threat posed by the heatwave in Mr Johnson’s absence, after an earlier one was held last Thursday.
Meteorologists estimate an 80 per cent chance of the mercury topping the UK’s record temperature of 38.7C, set in Cambridge in 2019, when the hot spell peaks on Tuesday.
The Met Office issued its first red warning for extreme heat, covering a swathe of England from London to Manchester and York on Monday and Tuesday.
Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, has hosted a special meeting to ensure the NHS, the Metropolitan Police, the London Fire Brigade, the London Ambulance Service, councils and Transport for London have a robust plan for the capital.
Ms Rayner added of Mr Johnson’s absence: “Where’s the plan for the delivery of essential services and how people will be kept safe at work, on transport, in schools, hospitals and care homes?”
The prime minister is also believed to be preparing to miss next Wednesday’s prime minister’s questions in the Commons, which would have been his last.
He is expected to attend a memorial service for the assassinated former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe in the middle of the week
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Post by no1novice on Jul 17, 2022 11:14:37 GMT
Welcome to my world, Brits. No national emergency for this here though. We just call it a summer day. 20C is good for me as I burn really quickly. I've worked outside in 24-26C before & it's hard going (18k steps before lunch to give you an idea of pace). |
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Post by MsDark on Jul 17, 2022 15:04:48 GMT
I always give my lawn guy an extra gatorade and make him take a break between the front and back yard. Even though he is used to working in this 90s-100s heat. I don't want him falling out in my yard.
I guess that would be about 33-40C for y'all using celsius.
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Post by no1novice on Jul 17, 2022 15:20:32 GMT
I always give my lawn guy an extra gatorade and make him take a break between the front and back yard. Even though he is used to working in this 90s-100s heat. I don't want him falling out in my yard. I guess that would be about 33-40C for y'all using celsius. Well done! I'm impressed! |
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Post by MsDark on Jul 17, 2022 15:24:12 GMT
I even buy the orange ones (he likes those) so DarkJr (who doesn't care for that flavor) won't drink them!
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Post by no1novice on Jul 17, 2022 15:27:12 GMT
Do you folks not drink water?
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