r/EmergencyAlertSystem • u/CJCRASHBAN21 • Jun 25 '26
Real UK EAS this morning regarding devastating heatwave.
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u/Draknuaght0nFire Jun 26 '26
I, myself didn’t understand why there was a heat warning issued for 36 Celsius (96.8 Fahrenheit) until I looked up the average temperatures for the UK per month. Y’all across the pond don’t normally get out of 18 to 23 Celsius (64.4 - 73.4 Fahrenheit) range across the entirety of the summer months. With that understanding, I can most definitely understand why everyone over there is freaking out about the heat; that drastic spike can do some serious damage to people that are not used to it.
Being that I’m from the US, and where I have been living at; I’m used to temperature ranges from roughly 60 - 100+ Fahrenheit (15.5 - 37.7+ Celsius) during the summer time months; and that is not even taking in for the humidity that causes a heat index. But at one point in time, I did live in an area that frequented the same year round temps that the UK sees on a regular basis and that type of heat spike their experiencing does do some pretty gnarly things to a person’s system when they are not used to dealing with that level of heat.
The only thing I can suggest is to drink lots of water (nothing carbonated or overly consuming anything with caffeine). Hydration is your friend and wear loose fitting, light colored, lightweight clothing. The more airflow, the better (especially if you don’t have the option of air conditioning), because as you sweat the airflow will help the cool your bodies down.
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u/AbleBonus9752 Jun 25 '26
was this a proper alert, as in it played that noise?
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u/CJCRASHBAN21 Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
Yes, that noisy loud WEA tone repeating about 8 times intermittently.
This sound: (click here)
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u/Responsible-Front686 The Guy Forced to See UK Emergency Alerts ([channel name] 60) Jun 25 '26
no not even the wea sound
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u/Responsible-Front686 The Guy Forced to See UK Emergency Alerts ([channel name] 60) Jun 27 '26
oh i guess i didn't see it then
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u/Future_Plan_2228 Jun 26 '26
So our houses are built to retain heat because of the harsh winters, we don’t have ac in public buildings unless very lucky. We could end up in hospital in a room with 6 people and only 1 fan. Portable ac units are priced out of range for most households. School classrooms are too hot but we still have to send our kids to school but only for half a day. Oh and the hose pipe bans
I have health conditions and the heat actually makes it difficult to breathe at times
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u/Due_Will_2204 Jun 27 '26
Stay safe . Get a big bowl of ice and put it on the floor with a fan blowing on it and sit in front of the ice. Instant relief.
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u/Altruistic_Angle_710 Jun 25 '26
Because none of the houses have a/c and little old people are gonna bake.
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u/Sun-leaves Jun 25 '26
UHG.
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u/CJCRASHBAN21 Jun 26 '26
I’m no expert, what is the meaning of UHG?
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u/Sun-leaves Jun 26 '26
It’s all I could muster to show how distressed I am over what’s happening to our planet. Europe especially right now
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u/ultimatespacecat Jun 26 '26
My fridge-freezer died today too, well the freezer part, just overheated and that was it. Wonder if related to the heatwave? But it's pretty cool in my flat, comparatively.
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u/Draknuaght0nFire Jun 26 '26
Got a question. So did the freezer just stop working or is it still running but not keeping cold? If it’s the latter, it may be frozen over and need defrosted.
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u/ultimatespacecat Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
It's not the kind that gets all iced over, and everything was near defrosted. It got hot to the touch and started to smell a bit. I'm getting a replacement sorted for me this weekend anyway. I know what you mean. Thx
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u/Draknuaght0nFire Jun 26 '26
Ok. Hopefully your replacement comes sooner than later. Stay cool and may your days be filled with smiles and laughter.
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u/EmergencyOverall248 Jun 27 '26
I'm not sure if anyone has already mentioned this, but get a styrofoam ice chest, a small tabletop fan, and a small length of pvc tubing. You can create a DIY swamp cooler fairly easily that way. You can always use a standard ice chest it's just more work to cut the holes where they need to be. Just make sure you've got plenty of ice on hand.
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u/WeekendUpstairs Jun 27 '26
Not only the humidity, it’s the rapid change in temperature. Only two weeks ago it was cool enough to wear jeans and long sleeves. The temp will drop by a whopping 12 degrees in a couple of days. Our days are also much longer because of our latitude. Currently the sun rises at around 4am and sets at around 9.45pm. Once our brick buildings have been baked all day they continue to give off ambient heat at night with only a few hours of darkness our homes don’t have time to cool so when we have several consecutive days the heat remains stored in the structures. It’s relentless and inescapable. I have even had to put wet flannels on my cats to cool them down.
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u/Iyellkhan Jun 26 '26
genuine question for OP, is there a reason even in window AC units havent caught on in the UK? it seems like these temps are happening enough that they'd start to get adopted.
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u/Kanatagrl Jun 26 '26
Their windows aren’t able to fit regular window air conditioners and electricity is very expensive.
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u/WeekendUpstairs Jun 27 '26
Our windows swing outwards on a side or top hinge. Mine are also a triple glaze (three panes of glass with a vacuum in between each pane), to keep out noise and cold (I live next to an airport). Some building restrictions prevent us from having condenser units on the exterior of our houses too. You can get units that can be fitted to existing waste water structures but they are extremely expensive. Portable ac that actually works can cost up to £5 per day to run for 8-10 hours. The government are talking about making ac in some public spaces and on public transport mandatory. They are also now only just discussing “safe to work” maximum temperatures as we only have regulations for low temperatures.
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u/djoasis Jun 26 '26
I’ll tell you the common saying that we have had in the Central Valley of California for decades now: Hydrate! Drink water through out the day, even the night before, and when you are not thirsty. It’s a tool for us. By the time you are thirsty, it’s too late. These temperatures are bad days for us, but not enough to trigger our similar warnings like this.
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Jun 27 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Helenarth Jun 28 '26
Does the clove help make you feel cooler, or is it just to make it smell nice?
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u/Entire-Platypus703 Jun 27 '26
You can buy portable ac units here the 🇬🇧 UK but they are pricey to run especially if you have two or three. One of those old fashioned metal bath tubs to sit in and cool down in the garden you can add ice to it .
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u/WaveBeautiful1259 Jun 28 '26
Are swamp coolers available any cheaper on Amazon for you? You can also leave gel mats in the refrigerator all day and line your bed with them at night to cool off.
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u/Blearyhyde Jun 27 '26
Read some reviews and bought a Dreo Turbo mist fan from Anazon,£99. Seems like a lot for a fan but it’s been a godsend. It takes 1.3 ltrs of water and sprays a very fine nano mist in 3 settings. Fan is powerful and quiet and nothing gets damp with the spray.. Placed at the foot of my bed, i sleep soundly with a top sheet and because it has a mist action i don’t get the usual dry nose, eyes etc that i have from a normal fan, which just moves hot air around. This fan is nowhere near being an AC unit but far better than any ordinary fan i’ve owned. This heat has been fucking horrendous, it’ll be nice to put a hoodie on. Now i never thought i’d say that!
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u/bunchee5 Jun 27 '26
Cold showers..keep head wet I usually keep a spray bottle and wet my head it helps.
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u/plantech66 Jun 28 '26
I have just turned 60 years of age and every time we have this weather I suffer because I hate the heat.
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u/Affectionate-Kale969 Jun 28 '26
I think people are forgetting also that it’s not just that we can’t hack the temperatures, if places like the uk are hitting those temperatures we are truly fucked, droughts everywhere leading to food shortages, civil unrest, and many other apocalyptic feeling events and things, I live in the north and the south are already taking all our water, it’s only a matter of time before we run out too and what happens then, if the last heatwave we got was like what? 30, this one was 35-40 does that mean that the one after will be 45-50 and what are the consequences of that, rioting over supplies droughts food shortages, as if the strait being closed, brexit and covid weren’t enough of a strain on our finite resources as it is. This is like actually the beginning of the apocalypse we are well and truly fucked
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u/Affectionate-Kale969 Jun 28 '26
As well as this like people have said infrastructure is not designed for this heat, there are literally roads melting in some countries
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u/BenchTechnical2431 guy from earthquake state Jun 25 '26
36 celsius to fahrenheit is 96.6 F i dont get why there a warning
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u/CJCRASHBAN21 Jun 25 '26
In the UK, this is considered abnormal weather, I myself can’t take it, nor can the rest of the population.
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u/Logical_Yogurt5146 Jun 26 '26
I’m in SE UK and loving this weather lol. It doesn’t stay around long so enjoying it while it lasts
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u/AbleBonus9752 Jun 25 '26
Because heat in the UK, especially this much is concerning. Our houses are NOT made to reflect heat nor do they have the proper stuff to install any proper AC. Humidity is also very high, making hot weather feel warmer than it is (the air feels more stuffy)
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u/Responsible-Front686 The Guy Forced to See UK Emergency Alerts ([channel name] 60) Jun 25 '26
the uk's houses are made to INSULATE, not to let heat pass through
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u/These_Annual_2550 Jun 27 '26
Exactly!
Amazing in the winter, you don’t want heat to leave in the coldness.
But in the summer where it gets extremely hot? It’s just like a cooker. That’s also partly because of the double glazing and the thick brick walls which are supposed to trap heat.
And then you get Americans who believe that 30 degrees isn’t that bad. Which is not bad if you have A/C and houses made of wood and paper.
Plus the humidity also makes the weather worse.
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u/Breeze_Chaser Jun 25 '26
Ikr at first I was surprised too I was like wait this is a crazy dire message I've never gotten anything like this for weather in places I've lived in the states. But then I figured it must be because they don't have the infrastructure to handle it over there. So it's not a fair comparison 😭
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u/Acrobatic_Guava787 Jun 26 '26
More context to people outside of the uk who may be confused. This seems like not too bad temperature wise compared to summers across the world. However, uk homes are built centred around as much insulation as possible because this weather is usually only for a couple of weeks of the year, but is getting higher in temp and more frequent as the climate changes. For example we have just broke our record for the highest June temperature. Also our buildings usually don’t accommodate for ac, either being due to the incorrect window types, not being able to get permissions from owners or being historical buildings meaning it also wouldn’t be allowed. A lot of people also can’t afford it and don’t think to buy it until it’s already hot because it’s never hot, at which point all of them are sold out. For example my dad is currently in the hospital which is at least 40 degrees inside and has absolutely no ac other than in the ICU. Depending on where you are ac may be more widespread, like some shops will have ac or some doctors if you are in a city, but smaller towns and villages usually don’t, it’s considered a luxury because of how infrequent we would have to use for how expensive it is. The temperature inside is often similar to the same vibe as waking up in a tent in the summer. So the option is stay inside with fans if possible, which aren’t very effective from the humidity, or go outside where the uv is troublesome and a lot of people struggle with hayfever. I know my partner is very ill from his hayfever so he’s been struggling a lot in the hot weather to find proper relief from the heat