• Health Warnings, Sunburn and Mass Buying of Fans: The Fallout from the UK Heatwave

    Date: 2009.07.26 | Category: celebrity, gossip | Tags: ,,,,,,

    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 hottest in three years. It was also the highest recorded temperature in June for decades – the average for June is 19-22 degrees Celcius (around 70 degrees Fahrenheit).

    Yet one of the things that’s bound to happen in a country which hardly ever sees a ‘proper’ summer, people start to go a bit loopy.

    Sunburn City

    The first thing British people do when even the smallest amount of sun is spotted is get their kit off. 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. Pretty soon this means millions of red skinned, peeling folks and most likely a spike in skin cancer scares a few months down the line.

    The Complaining Starts

    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 conditioners in public places!

    Staying Cool

    With one section of the British population is stripping down to their underwear, 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!

    Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud

    Sadly the tropical heatwave didn’t last and since this scorching seven days the country has been hit by equally severe rain and thunder storms.The yo-yoing between extreme weather patterns is certainly worrying for environmental campaigners as an example of climate change in effect.Now, of course, the UK public is now starting to complain about the rain and harking back to the heatwave. I guess there’s no winning.