We’re in our fourth heatwave of the year here in the Uk, and while the temperatures are not likely to break records (I think they will just break the 30° level in some places), our homes and infrastructure will serve to ensure that it’s uncomfortable. Each year when we get these conditions I tell myself that we’ll buy a portable air-con unit, but so far it hasn’t happened. However, if this sort of uncomfortable weather continues to increase in frequency and duration as climate change continues to make its presence felt, it’s only a matter of time before I fork out for one.
It’s hotter here at present than it was when I visited Spain in June. The temperatures are much more manageable when you can leisurely walk along a beach, like the one below in Blanes.
Olympus Trip 35 & Kodak Pro Image 100. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 5 June 2025
Steel City Snapper photography 
30° Celsius (~86° Fahrenheit) is considered a heatwave? That’s beyond hilarious! Where I live it often hits 105° F (~40° C) or more, with 75-80° F dew points even during midday (i.e. it’s incredibly humid). 86° F for a high would be considered insanely *comfortable* here…
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I agree that, for places that regularly exceed such temperatures, it seems odd that we would complain, but there are good reasons why even a relatively low temperature (globally speaking) can cause notable impact.
The first is our geography. We’re a temperate island country which, while on a similar latitude to Canada, never tends to get too cold (thanks to the Gulf Stream) or too hot. Average highs for August where I live are 20°C for example, so 30°C is a notable step up. Our island location also mean that humidity is high, which doesn’t help in hot (or cold) temperatures.
The second factor is our infrastructure. British homes (and in a lot of cases, workplaces and other buildings) are designed to keep their occupants warm and dry. Homes have large windows to let in a lot of light, which means heat on hot summer days, and because they are well insulated, the heat becomes trapped. Homes and businesses don’t tend to have features such as window shutters, shades, verandah’s etc. to keep the hot sunlight out, and very few have any form of air conditioning. Buildings get hot and then stay hot. There is no way to get away from the heat, even at night.
The third factor is something you mentioned – regularity. Periods of excess hot weather are unusual in the UK, so it isn’t practical or cost effective to introduce mitigating measures. Air conditioning is expensive, and in many buildings difficult, to install. I believe that 1 in 8 UK homes was built pre-1900, so having the room to fit an aircon system is impractical, if possible at all. The expense of installing building features to combat events that may only happen a handful of times each year just doesn’t happen. The same is true for periods of heavy snowfall in winter – the country grinds to a standstill because it’s not feasible to spend large sums building infrastructure prepared for events that might not happen at all some years. If the effects of climate change continue to have an increasing impact then I expect that changes to the way we live and work will be necessary over the longer term.
Sorry – that’s a lot of stuff. 🙂
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I apologize if I came off as facetious in my previous comment. That wasn’t my intent. But, yes, I do find it “odd” that mid-80s (F) temperatures would be considered a heatwave, anywhere. I understand it’s a tad warm, especially when combined with high humidity (again, something I’m *very* familiar with as it’s insanely humid where I live), but even without HVAC systems, temperatures in the mid-80s (F) are still far from what I’d consider miserable. Slightly uncomfortable? Sure. Problematic if sustained long-term in combination with extremely high humidity? Yes. But I mean, unless all your homes and buildings are literally built like hotboxes, and everything is constructed with windows that are unable to opened to let heat out and a breeze pass through, thus the interiors start literally cooking, rapidly shooting into the 90s, 100s, and beyond… But surely you guys have windows that open, right?
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No, I didn’t think you were being facetious, and apologies if my lengthy response implied I’d taken it that way.
Yes, we have windows. 🙂 Unfortunately, the periods of hot weather often come with quite still conditions. A breeze blowing through the house at night would be lovely, but often there is no breeze to be had, so you’re left trying to sleep in what feels like an oven. Fans help to a degree, but they just move the hot air around and don’t generate cooler temperatures.
This video is a good explainer as to why relatively low increases in heat tend to be a problem in the UK: https://youtu.be/mMqkuAb-HYg?si=66MIyNVNNPzKoGKt
Coincidentally, I saw this news article from my city yesterday about some poor people who *can’t* open their windows properly, even if there is a breeze to be had. 😦 : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62wlxy3g6po
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This got lengthy… Sorry. 😁
So, I guess part of the problem actually is indeed that your homes and buildings over there are built, for all intents and purposes, like hotboxes. In my opinion nearly all modern buildings and homes are built very poorly, seemingly everywhere, particularly in terms of having adequate/proper ventilation (natural and otherwise). It’s a serious problem here, too. It leads to many problems well beyond just uncomfortable indoor temperatures, but we’ll leave that discussion for another day.
For the most part homes here used to be built incredibly well, and, much like what the video you linked to discussed, were designed using common sense and an understanding of airflow/temperature dynamics to naturally repel/extract heat during the summers (even without A/C or forced air) and conversely hold the heat in during the winters. But that all changed… Here, by the 1960s it seems all common sense when it came to ventilation – among many/most other things related to building/construction – went the way of the dodo.
(Before I continue, I apologize for my default usage of the Fahrenheit system… 🙃)
Case in point: Growing up, one of my best friend’s homes was built in the late 19th century. It had no central heat and air, and no air conditioning of any kind. It had floor furnaces to provide heat during the winter, as well as a real fireplace (not the worthless decorative garbage that has existed for decades now). During the Spring, Summer, and Autumn months the windows were open at his house 24/7. Despite getting warm during the day, the indoor temperature was never unbearable. Due to the design of the two-story house, fresh air was being drawn through it at all times. And please do keep in mind that this was in a part of the country where the summers frequently hit temperatures between 100-110° daily, and even the overnight lows were still regularly in the upper 80s or low 90s. During the winters the windows were mostly shut, the floor furnaces were lit, and the house stayed nice and warm. It was simply good engineering, and usage of common sense (something that’s nearly gone in the world today).
On the other hand, the houses I lived in when I was growing up were much more modern, and without central heat and air (HVAC) running all day during the hot months it not only would have been unbearable, it actually would have been life-threatening (if the HVAC system broke down for any extended period and it was 100+ degrees out, you literally couldn’t stay in the house without risking heatstroke, even if you opened the windows). This is all due to poor engineering, and a total lack of common sense when it came to the house layout/design. Sadly, that describes pretty much every house I’ve ever lived in (and currently live in) spanning numerous towns/cities in three different states. It’s pathetic…
As a side note, I’ve lived places my entire life where the daily summer highs are frequently 100-110° (38 to 43° C), and the winter lows are frequently 0-20° below zero (-18 to -29° C). It’s always been this way where I’ve lived. So, yeah, a huge span of temperatures throughout the year relative to where you live. Unfortunately, where I currently live is also ridiculously humid, in addition to having the aforementioned extreme temperatures. Honestly, it’s not fun. I’d like to move somewhere dry with much less severe summer heat and winter cold. But I’d actually even deal with colder winters if it meant escaping the humidity. Humidity is the worst thing of all, in my opinion, and the most destructive. When I was little, and then again early in my adult life, I lived in the desert; I vastly preferred that.
As I write this it’s over 100° (~38° C) outside and the dew point is over 76° (~25° C), which, for most people not acclimated to such a combination of heat and humidity, would be suffocating. And, laughably, this is by far the “driest” it’s been here in recent memory. It’s only rained once in the past couple of weeks… Today is also far from the hottest day we’ve had. Going beyond the discussion of temperature, most places, when people think of dew on the grass and other surfaces, they think of it as something that develops overnight, exists in the morning, but is gone after the sun’s been out for a while. Here, the dew point/humidity is so high at times that everything is wet pretty much always, 24/7. Also, as a result of the high humidity, the heat index can easily reach 120-125° (49-52° C) here. Fun stuff (sarcasm).
I mean no offense by saying this, and I hope you won’t be offended, but given the climates of the places I’ve lived my entire life, I’m sure you can see why, when people elsewhere are complaining about temperatures in the mid-80s (or even the 90s), referring to such conditions as “heatwaves,” and ringing the “climate change” alarm (which, I’m sure you can gather, is not something I subscribe to), I personally find it patently absurd. Again, I mean no offense, but looking at it from my perspective surely you can see how laughable it seems. Right?
With regards to your second link, the article about the windows that idiotically barely open, yeah, that’s just plain stupid. And unacceptable… Windows need to be able to be opened, fully. Period. That’s true in high-rise buildings just as much as it is in single-floor homes. And, referring back to common sense and proper engineering going out the window (pun intended), before this happened basically all windows could be opened, everywhere, even in most skyscrapers – just as they should. But then the powers-that-shouldn’t-be got involved, as they always do, and passed a bunch of nonsense laws to “protect” individuals from themselves, and now, well, here we are… I imagine the same thing happened over there. Heck, I remember not only when the windows fully opened in high-rise hotels and such, but when a huge percentage of buildings actually had sliding doors you could open and balconies to walk out onto. I’m so glad the nanny state fixed that for us (more sarcasm)…
Anyway, sorry for the length of this! Take care, and in all sincerity I do hope you’re able to stay relatively cool during the warmer-than-is-typical weather you’re having over there. 😎
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