This week in London a Toastmasters club cancelled their in person meeting and made a Zoom meeting instead.
The temperature in London was 30 Celcius, which is 86 Fahrenheit.
The temperatures predicted in London on the next two days were 30 OC which is in the high eighties.
Schools are sending home the children.
Other countries scoff at the UK. People commenting on forums, writing from countries outside the UK say that they have higher temperatures, and for weeks longer. They can cope. They have air con systems. Just look at the buildings. New York buildings and Singapore buildings are festooned with air con appliances.
Inside you see free standing fans, fans attached to lights. Companies give away paper fans. Shops sell gadgets to carry such as battery operated fans.
What about the schools? The schools have glass windows. They are often more than two storeys high and the windows won't open for health and safety reasons. You would think they would have blinds and air cooling grilles for hot weather.
On the other hand, they have different holiday dates.
Poeple are also asking: How come people can go to the beach at the weekend, but not to work on Monday?
On the beach you can buy ice creams, shut your eyes and do nothing. You can snooze in the heat.
You can take time off to apply sunblock, take a long lunch, go off early to do shopping.
You are outdoors in the fresh air. You are cooling in the sea breeze. You are not breathing in other people's germs, from air con maybe circulating Covid.
You can take a shower. You can cool off in the sea water.
Why was the London in person meeting cancelled?
They said because of the Met office warning.
What are the implications and risks?
Somebody might faint at the meeting. You will be busy opening windows for one person who is too hot, closing them for somebody else in a draughts, calling the caretaker for the key.
If anybody faints during the meeting, it will disrupt the meeting. The organizer could be blamed for the hot room.
The caretaker of the building might be staying at home so you cannot get in.
People will be hot and tired and lethargic and staying home, disinclined to travel.
Your insurance might refuse to cover you if you ignore official warnings.
What Are The Warnings?
I looked at the Met office warning page. It is red, which means that not just the elderly and young and pregnant are vulnerable but everybody.
They asked how to improve their website.
I said - add
Symptoms of being in danger from heat. Why children are better off at home than at school. Advisory on which groups of people should stay home. Does it affect public transport and why? How can I tell if somebody has heatstroke? What are the death figures due to the heat?
Where can I get sun protection clothing online and what qualities should I look for?
Which sunscreen should I wear? What is the cheapest place to get it?
How will the health services be impacted. If other countries have these temperatures, how do they cope?
Why can't we? Will it be just as hot in the middle of August? When should an organizer of a meeting or conference send people home? How do you cool a conference room?
I have been reading the comments on the internet.
How Do Other Countries Cope?
Regarding the idea that others cope, many countries have cars with built in air conditioning.
I had air conditioning in my UK car, but I did not know. I had never previously had occasion to use it.
Can I drink from any tap?
Water in the UK from a drinking water tap is safe to drink. Not from the hot tap in bathrooms. Why not?
Beware Hot water kitchen taps and all household bathroom taps
1 The water stored for heating might be sitting on the roof or in the attic in a storage tank. All sorts of dead animals and insects and birds could crawl into the hot water tank and die there. Our plumber fished out of our tank some rusting metal
2 If the building has a water softener, this is directed through the hot water pipe, whilst it bypasses the cold water tap to the kitchen which is drinking water.
Where Can I find Water On Holiday?
On holiday, when looking for drinking water, you might find it here
In coffee bars - you might have to ask for it.
Gyms.
Hotels.
Stations.
Shopping malls.
Public toilets.
If in doubt, ask. If you ask do they have drinking water, they might simply reply no. So then you can ask them to tell you the nearest place where you can get some, or refill your bottle.
What About Insects?
In hot weather you are also exposed to insect bites. I looked up insects. I thought I was bitten by fleas. After I heard a buzzing sound, again, I saw the buzzer and it was not a fly nor a mosquito, which is higher pitched, but a bee or wasp.
Hot Weather Travel Checklist
1 Drinking water
2 Plan for a refill (eg location of Tesco Express), or free water fountain.
3 Sunhat with wide brim
4 Sunglasses
5 Sun cream. Calamine lotion. (Failing all else, Sudocream healing for nappy rash or heat rash.)
6 Insect repellent
7 Insect spray (working at home, you might prefer a vaccum cleaner, or open windows, and a bowl with a flat piece of card covering the opening to slide underneath.
Windows
8 Open window so insects can fly out. Keep window keys on a hook near the window but not visible from outside.
Window covering, net curtains, hanging bead curtains on doors, or fixed insect wire net.
9 If renting or buying to work overseas, check for outdoor access to keep the room cool and sit outside because of Covid because you or your visitors want protection from sitting at a distance.
10 Overseas, windows often have shutters to let in air but keep out intruders including intruding insects. Check how windows open and shut and any half way position.
Cars
Do not leave babies, children, adults, pets, food, chocolate, in a hot car.
Take a cool box for anything you want to eat or drink during the day or anything you buy. Put a cooling device in your fridge the day before travel and leave a note on the fridge door to remind yourself to put it in the cool box. Or set a timer to remind yourself to put the water and ice in the cool box before driving off for the day.
Make sure your backpack has a separate compartment for a water bottle to keep it away from precious papers and to allow easy access to the bottle.
Pack a separate plastic glass, or two, in case you need to share the water bottle with somebody else, so you are not sharing germs from the bottle. Better safe than sorry.
Be a cool person. Have a cool day.
Staying Cool At Home
11 Sliding glass patio doors might also have an air inlet at the top. Look for a little sliding section over a grille. (We had one for years and did not realise it was there.) If somebody closed this in winter, you might want to open it again in summer.
Travelling To A Conference
12 Pack a hand held fan, a battery operated fan, or make a paper fan.
What Is The Temperature
13 Write conversions of temperatures from C to Fahrenheit in your dairy, or find an old diary with such a page and add it to your current diary with sticky tape.
| Celsius °C | Fahrenheit °F |
| -30 °C | -22 °F |
| -20 °C | -4.0 °F |
| -10 °C | 14.0 °F |
| 0 °C | 32.0 °F |
| 1 °C | 33.8 °F |
| 2 °C | 35.6 °F |
| 3 °C | 37.4 °F |
| 4 °C | 39.2 °F |
| 5 °C | 41.0 °F |
| 6 °C | 42.8 °F |
| 7 °C | 44.6 °F |
| 8 °C | 46.4 °F |
| 9 °C | 48.2 °F |
| 10 °C | 50.0 °F |
| 11 °C | 51.8 °F |
| 12 °C | 53.6 °F |
| 13 °C | 55.4 °F |
| 14 °C | 57.2 °F |
| 15 °C | 59.0 °F |
| 16 °C | 60.8 °F |
| 17 °C | 62.6 °F |
| 18 °C | 64.4 °F |
| 19 °C | 66.2 °F |
| 20 °C | 68.0 °F |
| 21 °C | 69.8 °F |
| 22 °C | 71.6 °F |
| 23 °C | 73.4 °F |
| 24 °C | 75.2 °F |
| 25 °C | 77.0 °F |
| 26 °C | 78.8 °F |
| 27 °C | 80.6 °F |
| 28 °C | 82.4 °F |
| 29 °C | 84.2 °F |
| 30 °C | 86.0 °F |
| 40 °C | 104 °F |
| 50 °C | 122 °F |
| 60 °C | 140 °F |
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