Red alert indeed. I heard the following advice on the news this morning. If you are near the beach, it’s better to put your feet into a cold bowl of water, than risk venturing into the sea. Far too many unknown dangers out there if you are stupid enough to attempt to paddle.
Seagulls pinching your ice cream?
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Unless you are fortunate enough to have solar panels sufficient to power it, it would be better to adapt the house to passive cooling if possible instead. Otherwise it is another user of precious energy, and with the fossil fuel electricity generation still a fundamental part it is a contributor to carbon dioxide emissions.
Totally reckless I know. But I went swimming in the sea this evening, so far no ill effects.
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My advice is enjoy it, in a month or so you’ll all be complaining how cold it is. 
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I was trying to be diplomatic.
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41 in Cambridge? Fahrenheit?
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Well all the students have gone now, so it makes the tourists feel at home.
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.
My worries are for my very frail elderly parents. I was in Essex with them earlier this week and my Dad was struggling at 27deg. They will be in the hottest zone next week. Getting them to drink enough is a constant battle in normal times.
Here in Yorkshire half of the Leeds Liverpool canal (from Skipton to Wigan) is about to close due to water shortages. Not great for the boat hire companies, and if nothing changes soon they may lose the Eastern half too.
As for me I am hoping that where I volunteer might allow us to take off our jackets on Monday when I am next in. Ties will have to stay though.
Bruce
Even my son’s school, ordinarily rigourous in their pursuit of the wonky tie or missing jumper, have agreed no jumpers or ties this last week and they can wear their PE kit next week if they like! The World’s Gone Mad…
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Ah, many’s the time I’ve been to Marlow, though not in recent years. I was always given to pronouncing it as if Boycie, as in ‘Maarrrlowe’…
The weather forecast in the UK almost never mentions humidity which I find strange since the temp on its own means very little in terms of perceived comfort and danger.
30C and 80% humidity feels far (far far) worse than 42C and 15% humidity.
I saw a silly comment on another forum where someone wanted to know what all the whining was about because they walked around Las Vegas on a 46C day and were fine so why the big deal about 38C in the UK?. Well, Las Vegas is bone dry and the UK is actually a very humid country. Rarely does it dip below 60%.
Humidity is so important in fact that even getting a rough idea for how warm/cold any given day is likely to feel is pretty tricky, and utterly impossible to meaningfully compare to similar temps in other countries.
On top of that, houses build with good insulation but without aircon have a very tough time losing the heat when it cools down at night, especially in towns. Generally, in a hot climate, you go for insulation with aircon, or no aircon and no insulation. So really, it is going to be very challenging given the temps, lack of AC, and how British homes are built.
I’m genuinely concern for my family back in the UK and Belgium.
People in the UK always roll their eyes at the mention of AC for their two weeks of summer. But times are changing and frankly, AC = civilisation.
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I wuz born 'n bred in Marlow, locals tend to drop the ‘w’ & round off the ‘a’ as ‘r’
Marl’ur
Air con equals more heat pumped in to the atmosphere.
It is the vulnerable with pre existing conditions that are at risk from excessive heat, the rest of us just feel uncomfortable. France has an early warning and monitoring system to help protect those identified as at risk ( introduced after a particularly bad heatwave in 2003). Its not impossible to manage the situation. The UK will not see anything like 40 degrees anywhere for a long period of time and only in a very few locations. Don’t panic, manage the situation.
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Ah, unlike Henleh…
That is a very first-world ‘solution’.
Bruce
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17% humidity on Monday forecast
Henleh is for non local & regatta types, its pronounced 'enlee.