British heat wave report on youtube
The weather in Britain is so notoriously miserable most of the time that you have to feel the Brits deserve the heatwave they recently experienced. The last week of June this year saw UK temperatures soar to a reported 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), the warmest since 2006. It was also the highest recorded temperature in June for many years – the average for June is 19-22 degrees Celcius (around 70 degrees Fahrenheit).
However when you subject such conditions on a people who hardly ever experience it, you can be sure of a little madness flying about.
Sunburn City
First thing you see when the sun comes out in the UK is people stripping down to bikinis to make the most of the sun. With temperatures like this you can’t but avoid swarms of sunbathers trying to get a natural tan for once, jostling for space in the best suntanning spots. Several months down the line you can be sure of a few melanoma scares resulting from the overexuberant sun-worshipping.
The Grumbling Begins
True to form, the British mentality can’t deal with simply being happy and counting there blessings for more than a few days. Sure enough we soon started hearing people grumbling about it being too hot, and wishing for some cooler weather or even some rain. And, inevitably, there were petitions to demand the government do something about the awful hot weather and lack of air conditioning in public places!
Cooling Down
With half of the UK population are getting into their beach wear and throwing themselves on deckchairs directly under the sun, the rest rushes down to the high street and sucks up the entire stock of desk fans like some sweaty, many-headed monster. According to Google, searches for the term “portable air conditioner” in the UK went from 9,900 in May to 49,500 in June!
Nothing Lasts Forever
Unfortunately these Mediterranean conditions failed to stick around, and after a week of this there were equally severe thunderstorms and rain, leading to severe flooding in some parts. Many environmental campaigners are pointing to these extremities as yet more evidence of the effects of climate change.The funniest part of it is that the same people who were complaining about the heat the previous week, are now complaining about the heavy rainfall. I guess there’s no winning.