Our country is famous for terrible weather. It’s the punchline to Britain, the stereotype, the truth. As a result, we’re automatically programmed to make the most of any warm spells we get.
So, trying to be generous, it’s almost understandable that some are rolling their eyes at the current red alerts and safety advice, while muttering about a nanny state. Almost.
Sir John Hayes, chair of the – sounds like a joke but apparently isn’t – Common Sense Group of Conservative MPs, called warnings of the risks evidence we live in a “cowardly new world”.
Others are moaning that it’s just like the 1976 heatwave and we got through that fine, despite 1976 no longer even making it onto the list of Britain’s top 10 hottest days.
The weather we’ve had this week isn’t a lovely treat to enjoy, it’s confirmation that all the climate change warnings were right and an ominous sign for our futures. This temperature is a killer, for the vulnerable, the idiotic, the stubborn… oh, and the planet.
It’s also pretty unbearable to live in. Being on holiday, able to cool down in a pool whenever you like, is one thing but it’s totally another attempting to go about normal life, and work, in buildings designed to keep warmth in rather than out.
I spent yesterday sweatily typing while a desk fan blew hot air in my face like a hairdryer, and rubbing ice on cats who were grateful until the split second it became water. That moment is harder to pre-empt than you might think, as my many scratches attest. And however difficult you found the last few days, bear in mind that this is just the beginning.
“When our children are our age, they will yearn for a summer as cool as 2022,” says climate professor Bill McGuire.
“Long before the century’s end, 40C-plus heat will be nothing to write home about.”
Anyone sunbathing yesterday was the definition of fiddling while the world burns, not to mention putting themselves in danger, and threatening to be a burden on a health service which is already at breaking point.
Extra pressure on hospitals thanks to mostly avoidable cases of dehydration, heatstroke and heat exhaustion, will be piled on top of the rise in Covid cases the government is either pretending isn’t happening or just hasn’t noticed, because they’re too distracted squabbling about who will be the new Boris.
It should be noted that none of the people finding the warnings about how to stay safe in the heatwave insulting are medical professionals. Funny that.
On (boiling) ground level, this weather will negatively affect everything – from health and transport (roads, rails and runways are literally melting) to schools, businesses, rough sleepers and pets.
In the bigger picture, it genuinely means The End. It’s not too late though.
As Bill McGuire says, “Be scared, but don’t let this feed inertia. Instead, channel the emotion and use it to launch your contribution to tackling the climate emergency. We still have the time to stop a dangerous future becoming a cataclysmic one.”
So, anyone incensed by being advised to stay in the shade, drink water and wear a hat?
GROW UP. You’re cross about the wrong thing.
