Once again, we find ourselves facing the alarming media rhetoric and an overly cautious government agency response that typically emerges at the first sign of weather that strays from the mild and mundane. This weekend’s forecast? A scorching 30C (or for our American friends, a balmy 86F). Cue the heat-health alert, with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) making it sound as though we are bracing for a Saharan onslaught, rather than a warm summer weekend.
A heat-health alert has been issued for parts of England as temperatures are predicted to hit 30C (86F) over the weekend.
The alert is in place from 09:00 BST on Friday 9 June to 09:00 on Monday 12 June in London, the Midlands, eastern and southern England.
People are being asked to check on vulnerable friends and family.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-65837317
First, let’s put things in perspective. In many parts of the world, 30C is par for the course in summer, sometimes even considered a pleasantly warm day. This temperature is nothing unusual for countries like Spain, Italy, or Greece. Or even across the pond in the US, where states like Texas or Arizona regularly see summer highs soar well above 30C without a nationwide panic ensuing.
The UKHSA’s hysterical advice has triggered an amber alert, urging people to check on the vulnerable and adjust their daily routines. While it’s always important to look out for the elderly and those with health conditions, isn’t it just as crucial during the depths of winter or even on an average day? As responsible individuals, shouldn’t we be doing this anyway, without a governmental nudge?
Our media has become proficient at generating anxiety and alarm, latching onto the slightest deviation from the norm and amplifying it into a national crisis. The BBC article warns us of a weekend ‘hotter than Ibiza and Madrid’ as though this were a cataclysmic event, instead of simply a warm summer weekend that many people might actually enjoy.
BBC Weather’s meteorologist, Tomasz Schafernaker, fuels the hysteria by suggesting there might be an official heatwave. In reality, a heatwave is simply three consecutive days of temperatures above the official threshold. In other words, a summery weekend.
BBC Weather meteorologist Tomasz Schafernaker said some parts of the UK official heatwave threshold might be met in parts ofcentral and southern England this weekend.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-65837317
What is lost in the hysteria is that sunlight and heat, in moderation, can be beneficial. Sunlight provides us with essential Vitamin D, and being outside in the warm weather can improve mood, promote physical activity, and enhance social interactions. Of course, precautions should be taken – stay hydrated, don’t overexert yourself in the midday sun, and use sunblock. But isn’t that just common sense?
And let’s not forget the not-so-subtle mention of the new colour-coded alert system, launched by the UKHSA and the Met Office. While it’s supposed to protect the most vulnerable, in execution, it’s more of a ‘Big Brother’ culture creeping into our daily lives, with the state constantly watching and warning us. If this system is activated every time temperatures peak a bit, its meaningfulness and effectiveness could quickly be undermined.
So, as the weekend approaches, let’s keep calm and carry on. Check on your neighbours, especially the elderly or infirm, drink plenty of water, and don’t forget your sun hat. Let’s not let a bit of warm weather – or alarmist media – disrupt our enjoyment of a beautiful summer weekend.
HT/John C
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” A heat-health alert has been issued for parts of England as temperatures are predicted to hit 30C (86F) over the weekend ”
Britons can of course come and spend their holydays in Portugal as usual: here they roast at a bit higher temperature…
I gave the following advice to British Policymakers about warm weather a few days ago. I shall repeat it, in case they did not receive it.
England does need a plan to cope with warm sunny weather:
Clothing: Put away all of the woolens. You will need lots of mothballs to store them over the summer. Start manufacturing and distributing cedar chests. Lots of cotton shirts. T-shirts and polos. Lots of cotton shorts. Replace the wellies with sandals.
Sunscreen. make sure it widely available. And applied frequently and generously.
Ice, and lots of it. Mandate that restaurants serve ice water, iced sodas.
Tonic water with gin, served over ice. Lots of Ice. 3 shots of gin. 1 tsp triple sec, 10 oz. bottle of tonic water. Two tumblers filled with ice. Mix the booze and soda in a pitcher and pour into the tumblers. Prevents malaria.
Cold beer. Covert breweries to making lager. Until that is done, import pilsners and lagers from the continent. Jail barkeeps who serve warm beer.
And for God’s sake. Stay out of the noonday sun:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qop04JwbOOg
Once you get the hang of it you will discover that warm sunny days are as much better than cold rainy ones as ice cream is than hay. Speaking of ice cream. …
Are you familiar with this song, Walter?
Oops! Cancel last post…
Lager? Dear god that stuff is horrible – tastes disgusting and is fizzy for heaven’s sake – frankly if you’re used to fizzy pop then I could understand why you’d drink it but I’d much rather have a refreshing glass of beer on a warm day.
Careful! All sounds marvelously refreshing. But -You could be sued for causing someone to fall off the wagon. Or ruin a fat woke persons diet.
“I gave the following advice to British Policymakers”
Did you write it in an open letter on someone else’s website?
Open letters to big organizations usually make them change their minds right away.
The Met Office used to use the WMO heatwave definition until a couple of years ago, which was at least 5 consecutive days at 5°C or more above the average maximum temperatures for the time of year.
+1 for posting data! Yay good work thanks.
They are all going to melt into a pile of dead carbon. what ever can we do at 86 degrees, everything and anything we want, except ice skate on the river…
You can always ice skate on the river. Once. Doing it a second time is the trick.
I heard on Radio 4 a professor of something or other telling people to stay indoors, close the windows and close the curtains. All I could do was laugh.
(I listen to Radio 4 so you don’t have to)
Caption:“Lake Hyde Park in London
What??!
Do you mean ‘The Serpentine‘ or possibly ‘Round Pond’
No matter – we are sooooo Doubly Doomed now
Doom #1
BBC Headline quote:”A weekend heat-health alert has been raised from yellow to a more severe amber warning in eastern and southern England, and the Midlands.
The amber alert – in place from 09:00 BST on Friday – indicates high temperatures could affect all ages and impact the health service.
The alert, issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), continues until 09:00 BST on Monday.
Temperatures are forecast to hit 30C and some thunderstorms are expected.
(Their emphasis)
Doom #2 (This is bigger than ‘England’ = nearly on par with how big the BBC imagines itself to be. Phew – its fugging huuuuuugggge)
The Whole Planet is Doomed also – from today
As attached and here
Doncha just love the image they put with – these people really are insane
“the image they put with”
I wonder whether they post the image then run over here to see if we mention it?
1) Let’s see how well their predictions pan out. If they’re anything like what we get here in NZ there’s a good chance the predictions won’t eventuate.
2) “slightest deviation from the norm” – Is it really that abnormal to get temperatures in the late 20s in the south of England/London in June?
3) My memories of England from the early 90s are that it was often cold, overcast and drizzly. If ‘Climate Change!!” is going to turn England into a place where the weather is warm and sunny, that would be a good thing IMHO.
Seems like lots of places would prefer warmer weather.
35°C with 100% humidity aqnd 50°C with zero humidity are my cut off points.
Britain isn’t hot till at least 35°C. Round about 100°F IIRC.
35C=95F
It’s all about the humidity. If sweat is ineffective then it can be unpleasant at 30C. Yet 40C and desert dry is fine.
30C in New England is an unremarkable summer day. Common from June through September. The average high temperature for Hartford Connecticut in July is 84.9F/29.4C
Yesterday, the temperature on the sunny side of the house was 39C and 30C on the shady side, all in all, a pleasant afternoon. The local health authority went into panic mode and sent my wife, who receives home care support, a heat warning. All this at latitude 49.5N. Orbs, big brass ones.
Today in Surrey, England, I enjoyed the most beautiful summer day I have experienced in my 70 years.
I hope tomorrow is even warmer.
It is worth noting the BBC weather expert Schafernaker who is a university trained meteorologist was so lacking in awareness of everyday normal worldly matters, during his appearance on ‘Would I lie to you’, he admitted he did not know a lamb was a baby sheep. Google it if you doubt me.
What he would know about heat waves is anybody’s guess?
Have had a lovely outdoor activity day today here in central UK, sunny and 21 deg. C. Hope it warms up a bit particularly at night.
“Google it if you doubt me.”
Before the Internet I used to think the lyrics to my favorite songs were …
Maybe this will cool things off.
story tip
Euro zone enters recession after Germany, Ireland growth revision (cnbc.com)
These guys are full of it. Sixty degrees Fahrenheit is cool even chilly with some wind. Seventy degrees Fahrenheit is comfortable even a little warm in the sun or cool with some shade or wind. Eighty degrees Fahrenheit is warm a little more than warm in the sun, nice in the shade and refreshing with a little wind. Ninety degrees Fahrenheit is very warm even hot in the sun but comfortable in the shade with a nice breeze. One hundred degrees is hot, very hot in the sun but bearable in the shade and almost nice in the shade with a nice breeze. One hundred and five, about as hot as it gets in my neck of the woods is very hot, miserable in the sun, very hot in the shade and a nice breeze is more than welcome. Anything above eighty you should look for shade and hope for a nice breeze, always have a nice cool drink of water handy and you’ll be fine. If your going to swim in the local rivers and lakes ninety is nice.
The warmunist press are clearly idiots but what really p*sses me most is that they think everybody else are even bigger idiots. As for tax funded beuracrats ….. better not go there.
How many people have actually died from these recent heat waves, and how do they compare with the ones in North America during the 1930s? Better still, hasn’t study after study shown that far more people die of extreme cold than extreme heat? In addition, if the threat from heat is so great, why hasn’t there been a major population exodus from equatorial regions to places like Siberia, Manchuria, Scandinavia, Alaska, Labrador, and Antarctica? The whole heat wave business is a classic case of the media never resisting the opportunity to equate temporary warming periods with permanent global warming. Then the alarmists wonder why their predictions are guaranteed to be greeted with derision.
“A scorching 30C (or for our American friends, a balmy 86F).”
Crap, I’d already Googled it.
“And let’s not forget the … colour-coded alert system … effectiveness could quickly be undermined.”
The post 9/11 USA terrorist danger indicator was always orange, so it disappeared from public notice in a few months. I expect that for legal liability reasons it could never say “safe, no danger” again without triggering an avalanche of lawsuits. Red? Why aren’t we scrambling jets? Public political warnings seem like a no win game after only 1 use.
What is stopping you sceptics in the UK from countering blarney with measurements and presenting graphs like these to squelch thenonsense?
https://www.geoffstuff.com/eightheatwave2022.xlsx
The link shows the hottest heatwave each year of duration 1, 3, 5,and 10 days in 8 of Australia’s biggest cities, covering around 80% of our population.
There is a graph for raw data, some going back to the 1860s, plus a graph for the BOM adjusted data. With a bit if sly fun, you can choose a graph to suit your point.
(I turn 82 next Friday, so if I can do it, it should be a breeze for a youngster wanting that 15 minutes of fame. Or just the truth.) Geoff S
I was curious about this heat wave, having heard that the east of the country is rather cooler than usual, and checked Norwich, Lincoln, Cambridge. Take a look for yourselves at the forecasts over the coming week or ten days. Why anyone would think these forecast temperatures merit a heat warning?
Pure hysteria.
Here is Norwich, as a for instance, but check the others too, very similar.
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/forecast/u12gmt1fz#?date=2023-06-09
It’s alright for an overnight low.
I am going for a personal record for negative comments. I am right and everybody who post here is wrong.
Of course it the business of the nanny state to protect people from weather extremes. Of course it is the business of the media to report on weather extremes.
So when local goverment fails people die. When it is hot in Duluth Minnesota and the government is not prepared people die. So what if that is a cool day in Las Vegas?
I travel in a motor home and also sail. I check for weather advisories where I am at, going, and places in between.
One place, there are no heat advisories until it is above 110 degrees F. Where I am going, there is a heat advisory for it getting to 78. Between, the snow level is at 5000 feet and some fog.
I can leave because there is a wind advisory. Can not go sailing for the same reason. After getting a late start, I pass a favorite camps site by a mountain stream. Maybe not a good place to get out of if it snows so I got to the other side of the pass before stopping
I
Is a maximum of 30 extreme for the location and time of year?
The average maximum for London in June is 21, and for July 24.
Maidstone is the same, Canterbury and Oxford are a couple of degrees cooler.
It very much depends on what you’re acclimatised to. Those are pleasant winter’s days here near Sydney, NSW.
“Is a maximum of 30 extreme for the location and time of year?”
No. Highs for June:
June 2019 34C
June 2020 32C
June 2021 28C
June 2022 31C
https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/uk/london/historic?month=6&year=2022
Climate hysteria.
You are missing the point. These are not weather warnings, though they are couched in those terms.
There is no need to issue health warnings about the annual arrival of the UK summer and the warm summer days it brings. There is nothing remarkable or threatening about this weather. There is no need for anyone to change their behavior.
What the Met Office is doing then? Its promoting climate hysteria through the medium of issuing supposed fake warnings. This is a common thing these days in the UK, and happens in other fields.
Consider as another example the recent decision by British Cycling to restrict women’s races to biological women. This prompted an outburst from Emily Bridges, a trans woman and former male competetive cyclist, as reported in the Telegraph:
“Emily Bridges, a transgender cyclist, accused British Cycling of “genocide” in an astonishing attack after riders born male were banned from racing against women in British competitive events….
“…In a 651-word statement on her Instagram page, Bridges said British Cycling was guilty of a “violent act” and said it was a “failed organisation”…”
You notice the same basic approach: its perfectly reasonable to restrict women’s sporting events to women. Or to think trans women are not women, but altered men. But it gets redefined as genocide, trans phobia, violence. There are lots of other instances about sex and gender issues – the accusations against Kathleen Stock, for instance. In general, to hold that current medical science cannot change someone’s sex or that biological sex is real will result in accusations of the sort Bridges makes.
Despite its being a legally protected belief in the UK, that is, one cannot be discriminated against for holding it.
Similar things happen with issues around race.
So no, the Met Office should not be behaving in this way. They should get back to forecasting the weather, and stop using doing what sounds superficially like that as a way of promoting their own particular flavor of climate hysteria.
Interesting thing is though the BBC oft refers to Met Office warnings its forecasts are supplied by Meteo Group. Is it Meteo Group or even the BBC themselves that adds the lurid colouring?
How old are you? Could be that you are missing an important point?
I few years before retiring I stopped cycling because I would get dizzy when exercising. I would stay off ladders too when it was warmer.
About the same time, we were on vacation and camping when the weather permitted. There was heat advisory and decided we would stay in a hotel. We passed an ER and took my wife in over her objections. By the time, I parked the car they were prepping her for surgery.
Just because you get hysterical over other getting hysterical does not mean others are applying a systematic approach to safety.
Bach home we got a call from a neighbor late at night. Would we come stay with his elderly mother? Turns out he was only having symptoms of a heart attack.
You do not know what you do not know.
I live in the Phoenix metro area today the temperature is 33 C (92 F) it well below the normal 37 C (100 F) by the end of the month of June and all the way through July and August the average will be 41 C (107.44 F,) For me to consider is a be heat wave we will need to be above 45 C (113 F.) Yet this month the national weather service put out a high heat warning when we hit 37 C(100 F) the normal temperature for the day. The idiocy is not just in England. People work out in the summer heat each and every day and they don’t die.
High today was 32°C, unlikely to get below 30°C as the high for three or four months. We won’t mention the humidity. This is pretty normal for Houston.
Heat Health Alert – What is the normal operating temperature of the human body?
The med is slightly cool at moment and I’m currently in Gran Canaria which is slightly cool today at 24C . 30c in June in the UK less common but not that unusual
TORRO website which shows UK records shows plenty of events of 30C in June going back to the early 1900s . June record appears to be 35c in Mayflower Park Southampton in1976
Ah, ’76, I remember it well…