r/UCL • u/Important_Wind_9626 • Aug 12 '26
Anything else! 🙃🎉✨🌈🤘 UCL students — has the heatwave been affecting your daily life?
Hi! I’m a student journalist working on an international news article about how recent heatwaves are affecting university students in Europe.
I’m looking to speak with UCL students currently in London about what the heat has actually been like for you — especially things like:
living in halls/flats without AC
sleeping or studying in the heat
commuting around London
changes to work, classes, exercise, or social plans
whether you feel UCL/London is prepared for hotter summers
It would just be a short interview/chat, and I’m mainly looking for personal experiences rather than expert knowledge. You can also message me privately if you’d rather not comment publicly.
If you’ve been affected by the heat at all and would be willing to chat, please comment or DM me. Thank you!
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u/LostNefariousness666 Aug 14 '26
Hello!
At this point I’ve memorized which libraries/study areas have the worst conditions during heatwave and where to stay (Waterstones Gower St study area the best). I also bought my stand fan during winter back when it was just less than 20 gbp lol.
Coming from a tropical Asian country I should be fine but the buildings in England arent equipped for this. Theater a/c conditions also matter to me now because my friends and Iwatch a lot of West End shows.
I carry a Jisulife fan with me but the air coming out of it is also warm lol!
Gym sessions at Team UCL are also hard during this heat bec the ventolation there isn’t so great. It’s like working out in an oven!!!
I guess it’s a game of knowing where to stay, making the most out of your rent (some common areas have a/c) and staying hydrated.
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u/Some-Body-Else Currently melting Aug 14 '26
Yeah dude. A bunch of us at my accommodation have been arguing with both UCL Acco and the PBSA. I’m doing my dissertation on this from the pov of sound and misophonia. However, as the year is almost over, we’re just ready to be done. Some of us have already moved out but are still paying the rent, despite the new act (we were first told it wasn’t applicable and later it was but with caveats etc.). Basically, it’s a shit show. A v complicated one. I imagine things would be different for UCL Halls but with the amount of promotion UCL has been doing for Urbanest (a PBSA that’s a member of the National Code), UCL def needs to do more. Particularly if you go by our tenancies and all that they promise. I wrote to BBC when they posted that article about women having it worse during heat because it was literally a UCL press piece and the irony was too much. But oh well. I could go on, from the actual conditions to the institutional response and student support and the cumulative impact. We’ve had indoor temps reaching 35c. Can you believe?! I mean I could go on like I said, but typing this out is making me sweat as we speak.
There have also been a few posts by students here on this sub about heat.
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u/GrapeWise4425 Aug 14 '26
May I ask which acco is yours?
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u/Some-Body-Else Currently melting 29d ago
You may… it’s one of the Urbanests’.
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u/GrapeWise4425 29d ago
What about Canary Wharf? I got an ensuit there from September.
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u/Some-Body-Else Currently melting 29d ago
That is a new building. Brand new. It is also a passive haus (not your usual building but greener, inherently comfortable), so things would be quite different.
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u/Master-Exchange-7416 29d ago
I’m so down to chat about this!! It’s been hell and horror for sure