British heat wave report on youtube
People in Britain got a welcome break from their usual rain and misery recently when a heatwave broke out across the country. The last week of June this year saw UK temperatures soar to a reported 35 degrees Celsius (95F), the hottest in three years. It was also the hottest temperature in June for decades – the average for June is 19-22 degrees Celcius (66-72F).
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
First thing you see when the sun comes out in the UK is people stripping down to bikinis to make the most of the sun. You can visit any town in Britain during such weather and be sure of spotting hordes of people fighting for a good patch to sun themselves. No doubt doctors surgeries will get more than a few patients through their doors with worrying signs of skin cancer.
The Grass Is Always Greener
True to form, the British mentality can’t deal with simply being happy and counting there blessings for more than a few days. As sure as the sun sets, people soon started to complain about it being too hot, getting nostalgic about how cool it was last week. 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 half 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!
Nothing Lasts Forever
Unfortunately these Mediterranean conditions failed to stick around, and after a week of this there were equally severe thunderstorms and rain, leading to severe flooding in some parts.The yo-yoing between extreme weather patterns is certainly worrying for environmental campaigners as an example of climate change in effect. Predictably, everyone is now moaning and complaining about the wind and rain, and wishing the heatwave would come back. You just can’t win.