I know temperature isn’t as simple as marks on a thermometer. I know buildings in the UK are built to retain heat, while ours are built to repel heat. I know acclimatisation, habit and even wardrobe have a big effect on how people perceive the weather. I know people are genuinely suffering. But despite all this I can’t help but snort with laughter on seeing headlines like…
Send workers home if temperature hits 30C, say MPs who fear heatwave will cause accidents and deaths
Seriously – if we sent people home at 30C here in Perth, nothing would get done from August right through to March.
Also, the definition of a “Level Three Heatwave” makes me have to bite my fist to avoid bursting into fits of giggles…
Level three is triggered as soon as the Met Office confirms that threshold temperatures have been reached in any one region […] the average threshold temperature is 30ºC during the day and 15ºC overnight.
Here, that’s not a “Level Three Heatwave” – that’s unexpectedly mild summer weather where the days aren’t too hot and the nights are cool enough to sleep comfortably. In the heights of summer when a high pressure system is stalled in the Bight we’d kill for temperatures like that!
Cross-cultural hilarity aside, stay indoors and keep cool Britons. And look after those hedgehogs!
