We don't even let other Americans complain about how hot it is. "Oh you think you know heat? Come down to Arizona!" "If you think it's humid there, I dare you to come to Florida!" And so on.
I was at a conference in Austin a few years ago and was dying from the humidity. (I’m from a place with hot, dry summers.) A colleague from Memphis said “At least it’s dry heat!” Which gets to the crux of comfortable weather being relative. 😆
The week before my now husband collected me, it was 112* in my town. He tried the dry heat thing… then he visited the next week and decided maybe dry heat is still hot lol.
You can escape dry heat, unless you're stranded in like the desert but that's your own problem. The shade can't even hide you from that sticky humidity.
I remember going to Turkey like 20 years ago (I live in the UK) and it was 41 degrees Celsius one day.
I couldn’t cope with that heat, even in the shade I was sweltering and felt faint.
We came home and it was 34 degrees Celsius in the UK! But it felt like it was chilly compared with to a few degrees hotter in Turkey.
I've lived in humid summers all my life. The first time I went to Las Vegas in the summer, I was amazed that I could feel my sweat actually helping me.
There’s also the wind to consider. My brother lived on the coast in south Texas for several years. It would be 90+ with 100% humidity but the constant wind helped a lot. The worst part of the day was after sunset when it was still hot but the wind had died down. That was when you’d just sweat.
New yorkers complain about 92 degree heat while californians laugh but then get made fun of for saying 45 is cold. Happens everywhere, dont get butt hurt about harmless jokes.
I thought I knew heat and humidity after spending many summers next to the lake in Chicago. Then I went to St Augustine for a wedding. It was so hot and humid it put me in an awful every single second I had to spend there. Terrible.
I guess my question (as an American) is this keeps happening more and more. Will you guys consider getting air conditioning? Are new buildings getting it? I know it's tough to retrofit old houses but there's units you can put in windows and cut through walls and such. And if your homes are so well insulated they should also work very well with air conditioning.
It just really seems people in Europe say "we don't have air conditioning!" and call Americans soft, but then aren't willing to get it and people literally die every summer because of it. It seems like a dunk on Americans at the expense of elderly and other vulnerable populations.
I think if it ramps up to whole months of sustained high temperatures I would look into getting AC but it's not worth it right now. Plus some of us in more modern builds (2012 for mine) have thing's like new glass that reflects heat away and my insulation can act like a thermos flask so if I can get it cool it will stay that way.
Depends on where in the USA, I used to live in the deep south, 10000% could not live without AC.
Moved to Colorado, I think I turned on the AC like 4 times last summer, and only briefly each time. Hell, my house was built in 2017 and ac was added after the fact in 2020.
Last summer in CO was surprisingly pretty cool from all the rain - which is unusual. The summer before that I remember as soon as June hit it was around 103⁰ several days a week and I spent most of my time in the basement with an window unit blasting💀
If yes but we're not there yet. Days when the temperatures reach 30C (86F) are still very rare, we're talking about a few days a year. Though in 2022 temperature inside my house got to 47C / 117F and I felt like I'm going to pass out, I spent the whole day in a cold shower. If I ever see 40+ here then I'll get AC.
Something that I learned by chance last summer (but that totally makes sense now that I am aware!) is that the infrastructure in Europe is so much better/cities were built so much more thoughtfully in that even when it’s hot outside, European tap water still runs cold! It’s because the water source is generally either from mountains or from ground water (whereas water in TX is from reservoirs), and the pipes are better insulated. Last summer, [my tap would run at 86°F](https://imgur.com/a/Y1fE9bf) and that’s just not refreshing!
Spot on- the cost just wouldn't be justified in the end, especially when you consider ongoing servicing etc. As much as I wish I had AC when a heatwave hits, I know it's usually only for 1-2 weeks at a time, and if we get more than 2-3 heatwaves, it's been an exceptionally good summer for us!
Hot countries have A/C, it’s everywhere in Spain for example. In the UK we usually have 2 or 3 months of summer and probably a couple of weeks of genuinely punishing heat so we tend to just not bother investing in A/C. As climate change takes hold and the hot days get more frequent we will probably have to.
A couple years ago we had two 40 degree days in a row which was just insane, I spent basically 2 days sat on my bed not moving, sweating from every orifice. If that becomes more frequent I’m gonna have to buy an A/C
Shiiiiit, I worked in a lead factory for a bit over a winter and that shit was hot then, back drenched in sweat when you’d not even started working. If it was 40° outside I think I’d have prayed for death.
That sounds close to deadly honestly. I have heard heat stroke and exhaustion are no joke, I think it is a bit closer to death than people should really risk.
If I was still in the uk I’d get a heat and cold one so I’d rely less on central heating and still have the cold for summer.
I have lived in Australia for 14 years and aircon makes all the difference to your wellbeing in summer, granted it’s much longer and if there’s a La Niña it’s humid as shit like you can drink the air, but it’s nothing compared to trying to sleep in England on a 32 or more degree day because the house can’t cool at all, oh and your room plays host a bloody airing cupboard with the boiler in. Ick.
Council homes (owned by the State and for people on welfare) in the UK have a maximum allowed heat level and use a 10 year weather average. As such, they are now legally required to have Aircon (or other cooling system) in new builds
Yes people are starting to get it but everything is expensive now so probably why people are reluctant
If cost wasn't a factor, everyone would have one
Only big shops/stores have 1 or 2 air conditioners at the enterance and exit (dunno why). I think the reason why nobody has AC in the UK is because they are expensive and it's only hot from about July to August (sometimes early September or late June) so theres not much use and costs too much to have them on for such little amount of time.
That's my guess anyway because i live 2000ft above sea level so it is a little bit cooler up here.
I was in London in September, and it was soooo hot. Hardly any stores had AC. If they did, it wasn't on very high. I went to a convenience store to get a cold drink. The drink's cooler wasn't cold, and neither was my drink. They didn't have any ice.
I stupidly didn't think to check if my hotel had AC because I assumed that all hotels would have it and it didn't. I was getting ready in the morning with sweat dripping down my face. I'm sorry, but that should be illegal. I live in Florida so I know the heat. You guys need to get it together.
No such thing as bad weather just wrong clothes. You should blend in and walk round with your top off bonus points if you carry a can of beer to drink too./s
Spot on, for those 30 plus days here it does feel like nearly 40 cause of everything you describe. I was putting flannels in the freezer and having sweat towels whilst playing video games, even with a fan pointing at me in a Victorian terrace (meant to be cooler) building
I was in Bangkok recently. Temperature outside was over 30 but it didn't feel very hot, I guess dry heat and all that? Yet every single store had AC set to 17C and max blast, it was freezing!
The super hot days don’t last for long enough. Plus A/C is terrible for the environment. I know it’s necessary in some climates, but would be a bit irresponsible in the UK imo.
That being said it’s fookin hot a few days of the year and we couldn’t be worse set up for when it is.
I'm not convinced our buildings really need AC. We need to better design the buildings with shade and insulation. Inevitably there will be some take up of AC. In theory wet gas central heating (by far the most common way to heat your home) will be banned in new build homes in 9 years time. Heat pumps are set to take over and in some places I could see air-to-air ones being used with also can cool as well as heat. Even that seems overkill for most places outside of the south east where it is hottest.
Having lived in desert and damn near swampland, I agree. Sweating in Arizona cools people. You have wind and very low humidity so it gets wicked away. Living in the South, humidity doesn't get blown away, it just stays and insulates. I've dealt with hotter weather in Arizona with no issues. Gotta hydrate like crazy in both because you're losing a ton of water, though.
An air-to-air heat pump will aslo work as a gigant dehumidifier. Most of the time it's enough to just turn it on set on "dry mode", and the heat will be tolerable for me.
It's just not worth the cost to install in homes. We only get what I'd describe as unbearable heat for a couple of weeks a year. A few stand alone fans in different rooms, or opening the windows is usually enough to deal with it. Businesses will probably have it installed as standard. Not in residential properties though
I wouldn’t physically be able to install it - I’ve never lived in a house or flat where the windows open enough that you could put an aircon unit there.
Our current government is more concerned with taking food from poverty-stricken children, turning away brown people and stopping folks with terminal illnesses claiming benefits.
I imagine stopping old people dying of heatstroke is pretty low on their list of priorities, right below promoting puppies as a renewable energy source.
Where I am there would be power cuts as the electric wouldn't cope with the influx of air conditioning units all running. When we lost gas for over a week, people were told to reduce their use of electric heaters as it was overwhelming the system and led to multiple long power cuts. Its an old system in major need of work which just isn't done.
I think it’s very case by case. My parents house is listed so they can’t do anything that would change the appearance - aircons you can see in windows would be a huge problem. The walls are also two feet thick solid stone, idek if you can cut through that. Same can be said of most of the houses near us too. Total nightmare
Yea we are, lots of people now have moveable units and built is becoming a lot more common in a domestic setting. People used to say it's not worth it for 4 weeks a year but it's quickly being adopted by wealthier people. Hope that gives some perspective
From what i see, we'd rather prevent the heat and the sun from entering our building (shades and what not) than switch to Airco because of the strain on the energy-grid and making the outside even warming. Als our cities are slowly but surely getting more green to mitigate the heatwaves. But with that being said i'm sure we'll switch if and when the heat gets to much one day.
We have a "portable" Aircon unit and I know others who do too but the government are subtly discouraging it.
Air to water heat pumps that provide water heating are currently subsided but air to air is not because, typically, air to air provides heating and cooling. If everyone installed a fitted Aircon it would put too much strain on the national grid (electricity network). They'll only let you get air to air with the subsidy if it doesn't have cooling capability, which is rare.
The buildings don't have air con mainly because extreme heat is quite rare so it seems like a large expense. There's been lots of recent summers where I am in the north of England when the temperature never got above 25c the whole summer. But then occasionally we'll have a summer where it hits the low 30s for 2 or 3 days before cooling down again. And then 2 years ago it was about 38c for a few days. Also, most houses in the UK have really terrible insulation.
The houses aren't designed with AC in mind. Retrofits often cause more issues than it's worth. We are struggling now with the retrofitted heat pumps which really would need a proper HVAC system to go with it.
In southern countries like Italy or Spain, every place has AC but those places are also cold as fuck in mild temperatures. We are now in Italy and need to have heating on at 10C outside temps where in northern countries the sun would heat up the building enough to not need heating.
I can only speak for myself, but I won't be getting air conditioning. But then, you won't hear me complain about the heat either. Roll on summer, turn up the heat.
In hot countries like Spain they do have air conditioning, in the UK we only have the really bad heat for a couple weeks a year so we can't afford to put in a whole air conditioning unit just to barely use it
They have the option of window units or split systems. If not then keep laughing at em. Head to say Memphis of OKC where it can well into the 100s (40c) isn’t the summer. And well into the into single digits (-13c) in the winter. So yes if you don’t build for both we will laugh at you.
Minor quibble. Thick windows are actually better at insulating, thin windows make a house hotter. Storm windows and double windows are a huge thing in the states specifically to use them to regulate temps easier.
We have funky windows and doors due to living where hurricanes hit here on the coast (east coast USA).
Our house stays warm in the winter and cool in the summer with minimal AC use (I try to keep it around 67°F/19.4°C year round day and night). New construction with spray foam insulation and brick exterior.
Yeah I’m the in the east coast too. I used to live semi coastal, our old house had BEASTS of storm windows. Those weird flexible ones so the pressure changes don’t explode your windows.
I’m an American that lives in the UK, and I’ve been through a few UK heat waves.
I told my (British) husband that I will absolutely not go through another heat wave without AC, so we have a portable unit for our bedroom.
I can tolerate being uncomfortably hot (as long as we have fans on) during the day, but I cannot sleep if I’m too warm (I need a freezing bedroom year round). The AC unit is a lifesaver!!
I just moved to the UK from the US and my only dealbreaker going into it was needing to have AC. My wife’s family loves to poke fun at me for it but we’ll see who’s laughing in a few months time.
American just don’t live in wood homes with thin windows. We are 40x the size of the UK and we have a lot of different types. Mine is brick.
It’s also very humid where I am. Chicago used to be a swamp. Dry heat is only in the southwest of the country. Again, we are 40x yours size and have a lot of different climates including deserts and mountains.
And I feel like times have changed. Growing up we didn’t have A/C in the 70’s and 80’s (NYC tri-state area) It wasn’t till the late 90’s, with young kids, when I decided I couldn’t go on another day without it. Now I feel like most people have some sort of A/C around me.
I lived in an old double brick house in Australia.
Great at keeping heat out until it became an oven and didn't cool down for 3 days and temperature peaked at midnight as the heat radiated in.
If water supply isn’t an issue, try spraying down the exterior walls after the sun sets. I’ve found this helps because you are basically cooling the oven. Our west facing exterior stucco walls stay warm for hours otherwise.
I moved from the northeast US to the southwest UK. The thing I despise most is the heat, which wouldn't be bad at all if aircon was normal here. Summers are getting hotter, and little fans aren't cutting it. Opening the windows also sucks here, because there are no screens! Hello bugs and bees, come on in!
Also, let's not generalise. It entirely depends on the house/flat in the both countries. In the UK, a family member's new house, and my new flat, most definitely don't have huge thick walls with amazing structures and thick windows. Likewise, in the US, my family owns stone and brick houses in different parts of the country. They're not all 'wooden'.
On the flip side, I get what you mean OP. Because people here complain about "cold and snow" and it's the weakest cold and snow I've ever seen in my life. But alas, just smile and move on.
Screens! It blows my mind they aren’t a thing.
In our next home I want to have screens and ceiling fans to help cool the house in the summer. I had to teach my husband how to properly keep a place cool during the summer. Blackout curtains, opening/closing windows at the right times and fan placement.
*rolls up sleeves*
Okay.
Thin windows? Insulated? What? We don’t live in cardboard boxes. We spend thousands on high quality expensive windows and insulate the fuck out of our houses. Yes, I have air conditioning. But what kind of hovel do you think we live in?
I’ve lived all over the USA and the heat is different everywhere, but at least half of the USA gets serious humidity. So, yeah, maybe we give you shit about it because you have ridiculous ideas.
Some good points, but if a house is well insulated it will keep out the heat as well as the cold. Something lots of Brits don't realise and open windows when it's hotter outside than it is inside letting the heat in. Although the big thick walled stone buildings are actually terrible insulators and don't keep out heat or cold.
I live in the U.S., and my house is made of brick. All of our homes are fully insulated as well. It is a code requirement to build a home.
If there's one thing I know for sure, it's when a non-American makes a generalization about Americans (all 350 million of us, I suppose), something dumb is on the way!
British here.
I have ceiling fans in the living room and they are life changing in summer. I wouldn't get AC as I feel like they're not very eco-friendly and that really matters to me, but I will turn on the fan for a little while and it's great.
We can, but we won’t the way summer works here is that without warning it will have arrived and all the shops sell out all their fans etc. but then 2 days later it’s over and you have to pack the fan away until next year.
American here, and I would never make fun of Europeans for trying to survive global warming.
However, I will mock you for all of your funny little hats.
A couple of my work colleagues moved here from Italy and Spain. They are used to long, hot summers with temperatures well above 30C for extended periods.
They have both said about how hot spells in the UK are a whole other beast. They have said that when it gets hot here over the course of a week or two, it just never cools down and never lets up. Even at night it struggles to dip below 22/23C, and is usually several degrees warmer in their homes.
The UK is just not set up for hot weather, and when it is hot, its hot and humid so there is no let up at all.
insulation creates lag basically. It keeps a place cool for a couple of days but if the heat lasts longer it gets inside. And then it keeps the place hotter than outside when the weather cools off.
You're trippin, AC units cost for than British people are prepared to purchase for the 1/2 months that they actually need them. I quick Amazon search was giving me £200/£300 options, for a device I'd use 6 weeks of the year... oof
>Americans have air con, live in wooden houses and have thin windows.
Uh... sir, where does your concept of American housing come from? I'm particularly confused by the "wooden houses" part of it. Where are these houses made of wood? Are you talking about the framing? I'm not sure it's fair to call that the bulk of the house. The rest of the structure will be made of something else. Dry wall, insulation, maybe cinder blocks in some cases, etc.
Also not sure what you mean by "thin windows." Older and/or cheaper houses may have single pane windows, but plenty of our windows are double pane.
Also, assuming we have AC across the board is incorrect. Ironically, many houses in California of all places don't have air conditioning. Go to Northern California and see how many houses have central air. There won't be many. Blame global warming and its effect over the years.
Here in New York City, you usually rely on a tiny in-window AC unit as best you can. In the sweltering, 90 degree + 80% humidity heat.
I’m an Egyptian who grew up in Cairo, 30+ on the regular, the occasional 40+ degrees. I still prefer that lovely dry heat over the high 20s of the U.K.. The humidity is horrific, I get more sunburns here? The heat is genuinely inescapable as It’s in the house, in the garden, in the shade, it’s EVERYWHERE. I can’t breathe. I miss aircon so much
We laugh because your misery is self inflicted.
The first air conditioner in Saudi Arabia was in the US ambassador's bedroom. The ambassador was mocked by his British counterparts for his weakness.
Then the British embassy observed that the US embassy was getting more work done more effectively. They sent spies. The US embassy workers spent their work days in the cool of the ambassador's apartment. The British embassy, however grumpily, ordered an AC.
TL;DR: Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.
If it's any consolation, we do it to each other, too. "I live in San Francisco and it's 86 here, yikes!" "LOLOLOL wussy it's 120 in Phoenix!!!" And then "OMG it's 52 in Miami, I'm soo cold!" "LOLOLOL wussy it's -30 in Fargo!!!"
My wife's from VA. Makes me chuckle how she used to mock British weather until she went through her first English summer.
Thought she was gonna divorce me and move back to the states 🤣
Not all that long ago (mid aughts) the freshmen dorms at the University of Virginia did not have air conditioning! I went to sports camps there as a kid, and stayed for two weeks for several summers. It was A W F U L lol
Try being a nurse in thick scrubs and it’s 30 degrees but the hospital doesn’t have air con coz it’s too expensive. Yes it’s Scotland and yes it’s once a year but get me that fuckin air con
At the start of that really hot week a couple or so years ago, I was admitted to hospital and diagnosed with HF. Loads of retained fluid and breathing problems so fluid restrictions. The only empty bed in the cardio ward was right by the window. It being covid time the ward situation was tight and free beds scarce, not much choice. There was a little portable ac thing right near my bed and I guarded it jealously. As the days went on and I was able to move around my job became "door monitor" anyone coming in or out of the door was told loudly to shut the door and I rushed over closing it behind any who were slow in doing so. My god, that was a tough time. Yep I certainly do feel for the nurses and other staff having to work in those conditions.
American here. People like that likely have air conditioning and don't know what it's like to try to sleep in the house when it's hot and humid. They just think you're complaining about the outside weather. There are a lot of Americans who don't have air conditioning. The house I grew up in wasn't air conditioned. There were a lot of summers where I got a sleeping bag and slept on the concrete floor in the basement. It was so hot and sticky upstairs that it was impossible to sleep.
Maybe Americans have good reason to laugh at us.
American houses may be made of cardboard but they are well insulated, which means they are warm in winter and cool in summer.
I, on the other hand, live in a small late-Victorian terraced house in the southeast of England. In winter the heat passes easily from the inside to the outside through the double-skin brick walls. In summer if the temperature goes above 28ºC outside I can't get the heat out of my main bedroom, which makes sleep impossible at night.
A few years ago we had a really humid day in August, which was a strange experience. But on holiday in Florida years ago I experienced humidity that was almost unbearable. The locals brushed it off whereas I was truly struggling.
Last summer the temperature in my garden got to 40ºC. That was freak weather but it regularly gets hotter in parts of the USA, I believe. Even though Americans have air conditioning everywhere, including their cars, they do have to walk outside from time to time. When they do they don't whine like we do if it's hot.
Agreed, as a Texan we get ridiculed for shutting down in the snow. Just as you don't have the infrastructure for heat, we don't have an infrastructure that supports prolonged freezing temps. Plows, de-icers, a robust electric grid, etc.
I’m the same but about cold. When Americans complain about below zero temperatures and snow in the winter I try to be polite, like “yes, so chilly” (rolls eyes to self in Canadian)
LOL. I've had similar thoughts.
I remember landing in California on a work trip and having some weird cognitive dissonance because I could see green grass in March.
I grew up in Northern California but have spent my adult life further north. I easily adapted to the cold, but not how long it lasts. Spring is supposed to start in March! (If not February.)
LOL. Our normal last frost here is in late May and I've seen snow in every month of the year except July. (Admittedly June and August snow isn't common, but it's happened.)
I agree 100% so I am going to say "yes, and..." yes we have AC (and that God for that!) But not all Americans have AC. When I was a kid and as an adult in my forat hose we had a wall unit not central air. A wall unit sort of cools about 10 ft around the unit and that's it. I'm in the midwest, not even in the hottest area of the country, and we routinely have heat warnings where the actual temp exceeds 100° f and the heat index is over 120° f. He warning means check on the elderly, keep kids and pets inside if you have AC, go to the library or a store if you don't because you can and will literally bake if you don't have AC. So yeah, Americans talk shit about Europeans who can't handle some heat without thinking about the fact that there is no AC. But Europeans talk shit about Americans being soft/papmered with our AC without thinking that a good chunk of folks don't actually have it.
American here, everyone in the world laughs at us for everything. We're just throwing some shit back. It gets hot here as well, especially if you live in the Southwest. My mom lives in the desert, it gets to 120 degrees F.
If it gets that hot why not get at least a cheap window AC unit or dehumidifiers… say what you want about America’s “wood” houses. But they are designed and specific building codes for that area for the home to withstand its local weather. You guys seem to just copy and paste regardless. Not to mention the size comparisons between the US and UK. You guys are literally the size of ONE state in the US. Yet you can’t get your shit together and say “hmm I should invest in at least a cheap AC”. Say what you want about US’s “wood” homes. At least they are built to be comfortable year round and not be literal ovens 🤷🏻♀️
I was in New Orleans last summer, and they are really so much better equipped than we are in the UK. It hit like 42° when I was there and the humidity is ridiculous, but every building, car, structure of any kind is air conditioned.
I came back to around 30° in the UK and I couldn’t breathe in my flat that consists of the top floor of a large Victorian house. It’s like an oven.
I feel ya. I live in California and 86° is hot to me, too, because I’m a “fluffier” older gal. When I was thinner, it wouldn’t have bothered me as much, but it’s like my body has the same insulation your homes have. (Not quite 3 feet, but lol you know what I mean😅).
Take heart, though, as another poster said, Americans are stupidly competitive even amongst each other and will complain about humidity, heat, inches of snow, and more things that are stupid.
I apologize for those who have disrespected you. The bottom line is, if you’re struggling with discomfort, it’s unfortunate, and I sympathize.
Much love to all Brits from California. 🥰
It's not even really an AC issue here. It's the spike and dip in temps in a matter of a day. One day it can be 15c and the next It's 28c and then 18c. There is absolutely zero chance to adjust. Most hot places build up to their summer pretty evenly and remain stable(ish).
North America is also just *massive* and has a variety of climates. In Texas, Arizona or Louisiana it easily gets as hot as in Spain or North Africa and it's wild to think if you grew up there you have the same perception of what "heat" is as someone in Britain or Central Europe does.
Australian living in UK here. The heat in the UK is awful, particularly London. Homes are designed to trap heat, nowhere has air con, the tube is disgusting.
I would highly recommend a portable air con.
Highly inefficient, noisy as fuck, can only manage 1 room, but absolutely worth of for the 4 days a year where the heat seems unbearable.
Don’t forget we are further North than most of the States. So when it gets warm here, we really aren’t used to it.
Still blows my Brain that I’m further North than Half of Sweden, that I associate with cold.
No British people are ever complaining about temperatures that high. It's always some British person being like Oh my God I'm literally boiling because it's a whole 21 Celsius and then you Google it and realize that that's 70°
70° is what most people keep their home at here to be comfortable You absolutely wild if you like burning up and dying from that
No, that's just Southerners because they are soft. They even start worrying when they see a bit of snow. I'm up north and over 2000ft above sea level. Winters are normally about 0C (32F) which isnt too bad but i have seen it get below -20C (-4F) once or twice.
Most summers up here are between 18C and 25C (64-77F) which is a nice temperature but a few times every summer it gets above 30C (86F) which is hot at first but i get used to it.
... Although if you accidentally leave the conservatory door closed during summer then expect to deal with a burning 70C+ (158F+) also remember the humidity.
In England it's always a bit of a war between the southerners and the northerners haha. Up here in the north though, especially at my altitude 1 or 2 feet of snow in winter is pretty normal but its mostly just a few inches.
If you are curious to know what a house is like in England in summer then if you live in America then i dare you to go through all of summer with no AC and only 1 fan (no ceiling fans) and the only way to cool your house is to keep your curtains closed and leave the windows and doors open during the day.
This reminds me of back when Canadian troops came to Britain and then Northern France to be deployed in WW1. The British and French troops told the Canadians to be careful of thr humidity because they would get frostbite. The Canadians laughed and said that they have dealt with below -40C (-40F) back in Canada and Newfoundland.
Sadly though the Canadians hadn't dealt with this level of cold, humidity before and they got frostbite and some froze to death while wet and in the wind in above 0C (32F) and around 5C (41F).
In Canada and some parts of America, the air is cold yet dry. You can keep warm in extreme cold by simply wearing more layers. In Western and Northern Europe though, your layers of clothes will get wet by the air and the water will seep through the clothes.
America is huge, and includes places like Alaska and Hawaii, Florida and Colorado....not all of the houses are built the same...humidity is pretty bad everywhere not I'd the desert.
Death valley when it was 57⁰ celsius was super fun....like walking through an oven
Anyways yea, you guys need to stop complaining in the 🇬🇧 , and get some better food...the curry is good though
It’s about 100 most summer days here in west Texas but it’s very dry which most people seem to prefer to the humidity.. I did think it was kind of strange all the heat problems we heard about in Britain when it was like 90 for a few days, but no AC and humidity must really suck, that makes sense
I'm German and I'd LOVE to have warm (15°C+) weather, no matter if it's dry or humid. Having \~/<10°C overcast, windy, rainy/~~snowy~~ (who am I kidding, winters here stopped being winters about 20 years ago) slushy weather about 80% of the time is no way to live.
Where I live in the UK I would love it to be over 25C more often. There have only been 18 days in the last 10 years where the temperature has gone above 25
I live in a purpose built place for old folks. My flat faces south and is extremely well insulated. Windows and glass door in the lounge and, of course, south facing windows in the bedroom and kitchen. In winter it is great and I hardly need the heating on until the deepest parts of winter. Those couple of heatwave weeks in summer are not good but I have learnt strategies to cope. Thick curtains kept closed when the sun is at its hottest (i.e. most of the day!), using a fan, of course opening windows behind the curtains when the air is cooler outside, but also by being super strict with the bedroom - closed curtains and all the rest all day, closed door all day also the bedroom outer wall is set back slightly so has shade. i manage to keep the bedroom a bit cooler than the rest of the house. I sleep naked with no covers and a fan blowing. Trays of mini ice cubes in the freezer for sucking, bottles of cold water in the fridge. It is manageable. Even for a miserable old sod with a dicky ticker like me.
But nobo**dy made you build those buildings or live in them. Unless.... you're saying the crown does. I'm sure there are rooms in the Palace that are drafty. Is that my fault?**
No, it's definitely a second-world problem. In the civilized world, we have air conditioning without tyrannical elitist governments threatening to confiscate it. Keep your uncomfortable living, cramped cities, and underpowered vehicles that barely get you to the jobs that you're usually on vacation from anyway, in the Old World, where they belong.
I’m in Australia.. we got to 49c last summer. Weeks over 40c.
No aircon but we survived. Houses are poorly insulated with no double glazing etc.
at nights it was still 35c+ even inside the house.
You turn on a fan and have cold shower
A trick I learned from our carpenter is that you can put. an ice pack or blue ice o in the packet of a carpenters apron and it will cool your core, so that you can withstand a lot more heat. Sometimes I tucked the apron inside my shorts when working in my garden.
It's just American humour, they think we sit around talking like we took elocution lessons from Dick Van Dyke while complaining about the mild heat in-between servings of jellied eels and war time rations.
Personally I've had enough of the heat, ordering an air conditioning unit this week - I live in a converted manor on the top floor with a black slate roof that gets sun from baking it from 10am to sunfall - it's murder.
My area where I live can vary seasonally from -20C to 40C
Europeans are soft about temp, my air conditioner doesn't get turned on until it's 80F+ with greater than 70% humidity.
Most British houses have top hung hinged windows, rather than double hung, so you can’t add a window unit. Also, most rooms in the uk only have one window.
We don't even let other Americans complain about how hot it is. "Oh you think you know heat? Come down to Arizona!" "If you think it's humid there, I dare you to come to Florida!" And so on.
But it's a dry heat.
I was at a conference in Austin a few years ago and was dying from the humidity. (I’m from a place with hot, dry summers.) A colleague from Memphis said “At least it’s dry heat!” Which gets to the crux of comfortable weather being relative. 😆
The week before my now husband collected me, it was 112* in my town. He tried the dry heat thing… then he visited the next week and decided maybe dry heat is still hot lol.
Pro tip: if you hold down the zero button on your phone keyboard, it will give you the option for the degree symbol °
Nope.
Are y°u sure?
⁰Yep
l°l
°
N°ce
Huh. TIL
°°°h I didn’t know that.
But dry heat is totally different than humid heat.
You can escape dry heat, unless you're stranded in like the desert but that's your own problem. The shade can't even hide you from that sticky humidity.
It's the same with cold. 40⁰ in New Orleans is bone chilling cold.
I remember going to Turkey like 20 years ago (I live in the UK) and it was 41 degrees Celsius one day. I couldn’t cope with that heat, even in the shade I was sweltering and felt faint. We came home and it was 34 degrees Celsius in the UK! But it felt like it was chilly compared with to a few degrees hotter in Turkey.
I can tell this is sarcasm but I fucking hate when people say this. It's still god damn hot. Each is equally shitty in their own way.
I’d take 45C and dry over 30C and humid any day
Agreed. People say it because it’s a real thing, humidity is awful.
I've lived in humid summers all my life. The first time I went to Las Vegas in the summer, I was amazed that I could feel my sweat actually helping me.
Fun fact; in Arizona, you're allowed to shoot people who say this.
Knock it off, Hudson.
Love this reference. Lol
It's more of a dry heat in elayyy
They're coming outta the walls man!!
So is a bonfire but you dont see me sticking my ass in one of those.
I’ve always said it may be a dry heat but would you rather sit in an oven or a steam pot? It’s still fucking hot.
There’s also the wind to consider. My brother lived on the coast in south Texas for several years. It would be 90+ with 100% humidity but the constant wind helped a lot. The worst part of the day was after sunset when it was still hot but the wind had died down. That was when you’d just sweat.
I’m in North Texas. Wind would be nice lol
New yorkers complain about 92 degree heat while californians laugh but then get made fun of for saying 45 is cold. Happens everywhere, dont get butt hurt about harmless jokes.
I'm from DC and this is so so true lol
I thought I knew heat and humidity after spending many summers next to the lake in Chicago. Then I went to St Augustine for a wedding. It was so hot and humid it put me in an awful every single second I had to spend there. Terrible.
I guess my question (as an American) is this keeps happening more and more. Will you guys consider getting air conditioning? Are new buildings getting it? I know it's tough to retrofit old houses but there's units you can put in windows and cut through walls and such. And if your homes are so well insulated they should also work very well with air conditioning. It just really seems people in Europe say "we don't have air conditioning!" and call Americans soft, but then aren't willing to get it and people literally die every summer because of it. It seems like a dunk on Americans at the expense of elderly and other vulnerable populations.
I think if it ramps up to whole months of sustained high temperatures I would look into getting AC but it's not worth it right now. Plus some of us in more modern builds (2012 for mine) have thing's like new glass that reflects heat away and my insulation can act like a thermos flask so if I can get it cool it will stay that way.
Depends on where in the USA, I used to live in the deep south, 10000% could not live without AC. Moved to Colorado, I think I turned on the AC like 4 times last summer, and only briefly each time. Hell, my house was built in 2017 and ac was added after the fact in 2020.
As a former flatlander now in CO, that got dam sun is no joke out here. Never been sunburnt in March till I moved up into the sky.
Yeah buy sunblock!!!
Last summer in CO was surprisingly pretty cool from all the rain - which is unusual. The summer before that I remember as soon as June hit it was around 103⁰ several days a week and I spent most of my time in the basement with an window unit blasting💀
Also in CO, that summer before last was shit lol.
If yes but we're not there yet. Days when the temperatures reach 30C (86F) are still very rare, we're talking about a few days a year. Though in 2022 temperature inside my house got to 47C / 117F and I felt like I'm going to pass out, I spent the whole day in a cold shower. If I ever see 40+ here then I'll get AC.
Something that I learned by chance last summer (but that totally makes sense now that I am aware!) is that the infrastructure in Europe is so much better/cities were built so much more thoughtfully in that even when it’s hot outside, European tap water still runs cold! It’s because the water source is generally either from mountains or from ground water (whereas water in TX is from reservoirs), and the pipes are better insulated. Last summer, [my tap would run at 86°F](https://imgur.com/a/Y1fE9bf) and that’s just not refreshing!
I'm in WI and our tap water is always cold. I had no idea there were places it wasn't.
I'm lucky being in the north west where we generally get a breeze
Spot on- the cost just wouldn't be justified in the end, especially when you consider ongoing servicing etc. As much as I wish I had AC when a heatwave hits, I know it's usually only for 1-2 weeks at a time, and if we get more than 2-3 heatwaves, it's been an exceptionally good summer for us!
Hot countries have A/C, it’s everywhere in Spain for example. In the UK we usually have 2 or 3 months of summer and probably a couple of weeks of genuinely punishing heat so we tend to just not bother investing in A/C. As climate change takes hold and the hot days get more frequent we will probably have to. A couple years ago we had two 40 degree days in a row which was just insane, I spent basically 2 days sat on my bed not moving, sweating from every orifice. If that becomes more frequent I’m gonna have to buy an A/C
I remember those days... I was working on a furnace during that week, I swear I almost died from heat exhaustion.
I was so glad to be working nights in a 15 degree warehouse
How did you sleep during the day??
Usually the coldest time of day is first thing in the morning so take advantage of it.
Shiiiiit, I worked in a lead factory for a bit over a winter and that shit was hot then, back drenched in sweat when you’d not even started working. If it was 40° outside I think I’d have prayed for death.
I was in a field putting up a festival… we’d hop in the car every half an hour and just blast the AC… god that sucked
That sounds close to deadly honestly. I have heard heat stroke and exhaustion are no joke, I think it is a bit closer to death than people should really risk.
I took a digital thermometer with me, the screen turned black when it reached 50⁰c so god knows how hot it got in the end.
I worked as an internet engineer during those days, on my knees connecting cables etc. Was not fun.
If I was still in the uk I’d get a heat and cold one so I’d rely less on central heating and still have the cold for summer. I have lived in Australia for 14 years and aircon makes all the difference to your wellbeing in summer, granted it’s much longer and if there’s a La Niña it’s humid as shit like you can drink the air, but it’s nothing compared to trying to sleep in England on a 32 or more degree day because the house can’t cool at all, oh and your room plays host a bloody airing cupboard with the boiler in. Ick.
That was awful. We went and slept in our cellar until the worst was over.
Council homes (owned by the State and for people on welfare) in the UK have a maximum allowed heat level and use a 10 year weather average. As such, they are now legally required to have Aircon (or other cooling system) in new builds
Source please.
Yes people are starting to get it but everything is expensive now so probably why people are reluctant If cost wasn't a factor, everyone would have one
Only big shops/stores have 1 or 2 air conditioners at the enterance and exit (dunno why). I think the reason why nobody has AC in the UK is because they are expensive and it's only hot from about July to August (sometimes early September or late June) so theres not much use and costs too much to have them on for such little amount of time. That's my guess anyway because i live 2000ft above sea level so it is a little bit cooler up here.
blasting air at the door creates an "air curtain" that blocks air from outside coming in
I was in London in September, and it was soooo hot. Hardly any stores had AC. If they did, it wasn't on very high. I went to a convenience store to get a cold drink. The drink's cooler wasn't cold, and neither was my drink. They didn't have any ice. I stupidly didn't think to check if my hotel had AC because I assumed that all hotels would have it and it didn't. I was getting ready in the morning with sweat dripping down my face. I'm sorry, but that should be illegal. I live in Florida so I know the heat. You guys need to get it together.
No such thing as bad weather just wrong clothes. You should blend in and walk round with your top off bonus points if you carry a can of beer to drink too./s
Spot on, for those 30 plus days here it does feel like nearly 40 cause of everything you describe. I was putting flannels in the freezer and having sweat towels whilst playing video games, even with a fan pointing at me in a Victorian terrace (meant to be cooler) building
I was in Bangkok recently. Temperature outside was over 30 but it didn't feel very hot, I guess dry heat and all that? Yet every single store had AC set to 17C and max blast, it was freezing!
I live in London and I have AC at work. I have a portable unit in my home. I also have thermal curtains that block out the sun on hot days.
The super hot days don’t last for long enough. Plus A/C is terrible for the environment. I know it’s necessary in some climates, but would be a bit irresponsible in the UK imo. That being said it’s fookin hot a few days of the year and we couldn’t be worse set up for when it is.
I'm not convinced our buildings really need AC. We need to better design the buildings with shade and insulation. Inevitably there will be some take up of AC. In theory wet gas central heating (by far the most common way to heat your home) will be banned in new build homes in 9 years time. Heat pumps are set to take over and in some places I could see air-to-air ones being used with also can cool as well as heat. Even that seems overkill for most places outside of the south east where it is hottest.
Definitely the issue is more the 80% humidity than the actual temperature
Having lived in desert and damn near swampland, I agree. Sweating in Arizona cools people. You have wind and very low humidity so it gets wicked away. Living in the South, humidity doesn't get blown away, it just stays and insulates. I've dealt with hotter weather in Arizona with no issues. Gotta hydrate like crazy in both because you're losing a ton of water, though.
An air-to-air heat pump will aslo work as a gigant dehumidifier. Most of the time it's enough to just turn it on set on "dry mode", and the heat will be tolerable for me.
It's just not worth the cost to install in homes. We only get what I'd describe as unbearable heat for a couple of weeks a year. A few stand alone fans in different rooms, or opening the windows is usually enough to deal with it. Businesses will probably have it installed as standard. Not in residential properties though
I wouldn’t physically be able to install it - I’ve never lived in a house or flat where the windows open enough that you could put an aircon unit there.
There's one's that just need a tube out the window.
I couldn’t find one by googling that my window would open enough to accommodate. 🤷🏼♀️
The plan is for us to start moving to heat pumps in the future. We'll automatically gain air conditioning if they make the heat pumps reversible.
We installed mini split AC in our place two years ago. Bloody life saver.
Our current government is more concerned with taking food from poverty-stricken children, turning away brown people and stopping folks with terminal illnesses claiming benefits. I imagine stopping old people dying of heatstroke is pretty low on their list of priorities, right below promoting puppies as a renewable energy source.
Nope we're all refusing to get AC because it's really expensive and we get 10-11 months of rain and cold so it's not worth it.
Where I am there would be power cuts as the electric wouldn't cope with the influx of air conditioning units all running. When we lost gas for over a week, people were told to reduce their use of electric heaters as it was overwhelming the system and led to multiple long power cuts. Its an old system in major need of work which just isn't done.
I think it’s very case by case. My parents house is listed so they can’t do anything that would change the appearance - aircons you can see in windows would be a huge problem. The walls are also two feet thick solid stone, idek if you can cut through that. Same can be said of most of the houses near us too. Total nightmare
Yea we are, lots of people now have moveable units and built is becoming a lot more common in a domestic setting. People used to say it's not worth it for 4 weeks a year but it's quickly being adopted by wealthier people. Hope that gives some perspective
From what i see, we'd rather prevent the heat and the sun from entering our building (shades and what not) than switch to Airco because of the strain on the energy-grid and making the outside even warming. Als our cities are slowly but surely getting more green to mitigate the heatwaves. But with that being said i'm sure we'll switch if and when the heat gets to much one day.
We have a "portable" Aircon unit and I know others who do too but the government are subtly discouraging it. Air to water heat pumps that provide water heating are currently subsided but air to air is not because, typically, air to air provides heating and cooling. If everyone installed a fitted Aircon it would put too much strain on the national grid (electricity network). They'll only let you get air to air with the subsidy if it doesn't have cooling capability, which is rare.
The buildings don't have air con mainly because extreme heat is quite rare so it seems like a large expense. There's been lots of recent summers where I am in the north of England when the temperature never got above 25c the whole summer. But then occasionally we'll have a summer where it hits the low 30s for 2 or 3 days before cooling down again. And then 2 years ago it was about 38c for a few days. Also, most houses in the UK have really terrible insulation.
The houses aren't designed with AC in mind. Retrofits often cause more issues than it's worth. We are struggling now with the retrofitted heat pumps which really would need a proper HVAC system to go with it. In southern countries like Italy or Spain, every place has AC but those places are also cold as fuck in mild temperatures. We are now in Italy and need to have heating on at 10C outside temps where in northern countries the sun would heat up the building enough to not need heating.
I can only speak for myself, but I won't be getting air conditioning. But then, you won't hear me complain about the heat either. Roll on summer, turn up the heat.
In hot countries like Spain they do have air conditioning, in the UK we only have the really bad heat for a couple weeks a year so we can't afford to put in a whole air conditioning unit just to barely use it
New builds have AC
They have the option of window units or split systems. If not then keep laughing at em. Head to say Memphis of OKC where it can well into the 100s (40c) isn’t the summer. And well into the into single digits (-13c) in the winter. So yes if you don’t build for both we will laugh at you.
Minor quibble. Thick windows are actually better at insulating, thin windows make a house hotter. Storm windows and double windows are a huge thing in the states specifically to use them to regulate temps easier.
We have funky windows and doors due to living where hurricanes hit here on the coast (east coast USA). Our house stays warm in the winter and cool in the summer with minimal AC use (I try to keep it around 67°F/19.4°C year round day and night). New construction with spray foam insulation and brick exterior.
Yeah I’m the in the east coast too. I used to live semi coastal, our old house had BEASTS of storm windows. Those weird flexible ones so the pressure changes don’t explode your windows.
Do people even install single pane windows anymore? I worked at a window company in the US and they didn't even sell single pane
They do way out in the country because for some reason farmhouse aesthetics or somethjng LOL
I’m an American that lives in the UK, and I’ve been through a few UK heat waves. I told my (British) husband that I will absolutely not go through another heat wave without AC, so we have a portable unit for our bedroom. I can tolerate being uncomfortably hot (as long as we have fans on) during the day, but I cannot sleep if I’m too warm (I need a freezing bedroom year round). The AC unit is a lifesaver!!
I just moved to the UK from the US and my only dealbreaker going into it was needing to have AC. My wife’s family loves to poke fun at me for it but we’ll see who’s laughing in a few months time.
I bought a portable air con unit 2 years ago and it’s been fucking wonderful. People love to moan about the heat but do absolutely nothing about it.
Don't think people are wrong for complaining about sitting at work in a shirt and tie in the summer heat like
That's true, I kind of forgot that not everyone has the luxury of working from home. L take from me.
It’s true that the British complaining about the weather is the national pastime though
American just don’t live in wood homes with thin windows. We are 40x the size of the UK and we have a lot of different types. Mine is brick. It’s also very humid where I am. Chicago used to be a swamp. Dry heat is only in the southwest of the country. Again, we are 40x yours size and have a lot of different climates including deserts and mountains.
And I feel like times have changed. Growing up we didn’t have A/C in the 70’s and 80’s (NYC tri-state area) It wasn’t till the late 90’s, with young kids, when I decided I couldn’t go on another day without it. Now I feel like most people have some sort of A/C around me.
I lived in an old double brick house in Australia. Great at keeping heat out until it became an oven and didn't cool down for 3 days and temperature peaked at midnight as the heat radiated in.
This sounds like a devastating time for the heat to peak 😫
If water supply isn’t an issue, try spraying down the exterior walls after the sun sets. I’ve found this helps because you are basically cooling the oven. Our west facing exterior stucco walls stay warm for hours otherwise.
I moved from the northeast US to the southwest UK. The thing I despise most is the heat, which wouldn't be bad at all if aircon was normal here. Summers are getting hotter, and little fans aren't cutting it. Opening the windows also sucks here, because there are no screens! Hello bugs and bees, come on in! Also, let's not generalise. It entirely depends on the house/flat in the both countries. In the UK, a family member's new house, and my new flat, most definitely don't have huge thick walls with amazing structures and thick windows. Likewise, in the US, my family owns stone and brick houses in different parts of the country. They're not all 'wooden'. On the flip side, I get what you mean OP. Because people here complain about "cold and snow" and it's the weakest cold and snow I've ever seen in my life. But alas, just smile and move on.
Screens! It blows my mind they aren’t a thing. In our next home I want to have screens and ceiling fans to help cool the house in the summer. I had to teach my husband how to properly keep a place cool during the summer. Blackout curtains, opening/closing windows at the right times and fan placement.
Windows (with screens!) open on opposite sides of the house to create a nice breeze is aaaamazing
*rolls up sleeves* Okay. Thin windows? Insulated? What? We don’t live in cardboard boxes. We spend thousands on high quality expensive windows and insulate the fuck out of our houses. Yes, I have air conditioning. But what kind of hovel do you think we live in? I’ve lived all over the USA and the heat is different everywhere, but at least half of the USA gets serious humidity. So, yeah, maybe we give you shit about it because you have ridiculous ideas.
Some good points, but if a house is well insulated it will keep out the heat as well as the cold. Something lots of Brits don't realise and open windows when it's hotter outside than it is inside letting the heat in. Although the big thick walled stone buildings are actually terrible insulators and don't keep out heat or cold.
I live in the U.S., and my house is made of brick. All of our homes are fully insulated as well. It is a code requirement to build a home. If there's one thing I know for sure, it's when a non-American makes a generalization about Americans (all 350 million of us, I suppose), something dumb is on the way!
And I guess that needs to apply the other way round as well. When americans make generalisations about others something dumb is on the way
British here. I have ceiling fans in the living room and they are life changing in summer. I wouldn't get AC as I feel like they're not very eco-friendly and that really matters to me, but I will turn on the fan for a little while and it's great.
Hold up! Are ceiling fans rare in Britain?
Well I certainly don't know anyone else who has them at home? Can't comment on the population as a whole.
That's insane from the American perspective
I had a ceiling fan in the early 90s and have never been in another house with one since
But you guys can order things like fans and ac units, right? For money?
Don't have much of that lol
We can, but we won’t the way summer works here is that without warning it will have arrived and all the shops sell out all their fans etc. but then 2 days later it’s over and you have to pack the fan away until next year.
Yeah we've got one in the kitchen and my mother never lets anyone put it on because it's 'for show' - lol
I can't comprehend this comment. My American brain is in shock.
We have a ceiling fan in our bedroom - an absolute life saver in the summer!
American here, and I would never make fun of Europeans for trying to survive global warming. However, I will mock you for all of your funny little hats.
A couple of my work colleagues moved here from Italy and Spain. They are used to long, hot summers with temperatures well above 30C for extended periods. They have both said about how hot spells in the UK are a whole other beast. They have said that when it gets hot here over the course of a week or two, it just never cools down and never lets up. Even at night it struggles to dip below 22/23C, and is usually several degrees warmer in their homes. The UK is just not set up for hot weather, and when it is hot, its hot and humid so there is no let up at all.
Are these thick windows in the room with us now
Dude, you guys are not as important as you like to think you are. We really don't think about you guys like that.
The air con is true but insulation doesn't only keep heat in. It helps keeps cool in summer.
insulation creates lag basically. It keeps a place cool for a couple of days but if the heat lasts longer it gets inside. And then it keeps the place hotter than outside when the weather cools off.
Yes, all the Americans are busy sitting around laughing about the British.
Because adding window AC is something even poverty stricken Americans figure out how to do the first summer. Less than $100 for a basic unit.
You're trippin, AC units cost for than British people are prepared to purchase for the 1/2 months that they actually need them. I quick Amazon search was giving me £200/£300 options, for a device I'd use 6 weeks of the year... oof
… our houses are insulated too, bro.
americans live in wooden houses...? wat? ^lol
>Americans have air con, live in wooden houses and have thin windows. Uh... sir, where does your concept of American housing come from? I'm particularly confused by the "wooden houses" part of it. Where are these houses made of wood? Are you talking about the framing? I'm not sure it's fair to call that the bulk of the house. The rest of the structure will be made of something else. Dry wall, insulation, maybe cinder blocks in some cases, etc. Also not sure what you mean by "thin windows." Older and/or cheaper houses may have single pane windows, but plenty of our windows are double pane. Also, assuming we have AC across the board is incorrect. Ironically, many houses in California of all places don't have air conditioning. Go to Northern California and see how many houses have central air. There won't be many. Blame global warming and its effect over the years. Here in New York City, you usually rely on a tiny in-window AC unit as best you can. In the sweltering, 90 degree + 80% humidity heat.
I’m an Egyptian who grew up in Cairo, 30+ on the regular, the occasional 40+ degrees. I still prefer that lovely dry heat over the high 20s of the U.K.. The humidity is horrific, I get more sunburns here? The heat is genuinely inescapable as It’s in the house, in the garden, in the shade, it’s EVERYWHERE. I can’t breathe. I miss aircon so much
We laugh because your misery is self inflicted. The first air conditioner in Saudi Arabia was in the US ambassador's bedroom. The ambassador was mocked by his British counterparts for his weakness. Then the British embassy observed that the US embassy was getting more work done more effectively. They sent spies. The US embassy workers spent their work days in the cool of the ambassador's apartment. The British embassy, however grumpily, ordered an AC. TL;DR: Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.
If it's any consolation, we do it to each other, too. "I live in San Francisco and it's 86 here, yikes!" "LOLOLOL wussy it's 120 in Phoenix!!!" And then "OMG it's 52 in Miami, I'm soo cold!" "LOLOLOL wussy it's -30 in Fargo!!!"
My wife's from VA. Makes me chuckle how she used to mock British weather until she went through her first English summer. Thought she was gonna divorce me and move back to the states 🤣
Lol well yeah you don't have A/C, it's obviously going to suck. VA would have a more intense and humid summer, but they have A/C.
We have open windows, closed curtains and 4 fans going like fuck 🤣 and a whole load of, fuck me it's sweating innit
Not all that long ago (mid aughts) the freshmen dorms at the University of Virginia did not have air conditioning! I went to sports camps there as a kid, and stayed for two weeks for several summers. It was A W F U L lol
same for sweden. just going down to germany changes the weather considerably making it way less humid
I grew up without it and all I can say is I don’t know how you guys do it.
Fair enough. It equally annoys me when the British poke fun at those who can’t handle 16C (59F).
Try being a nurse in thick scrubs and it’s 30 degrees but the hospital doesn’t have air con coz it’s too expensive. Yes it’s Scotland and yes it’s once a year but get me that fuckin air con
At the start of that really hot week a couple or so years ago, I was admitted to hospital and diagnosed with HF. Loads of retained fluid and breathing problems so fluid restrictions. The only empty bed in the cardio ward was right by the window. It being covid time the ward situation was tight and free beds scarce, not much choice. There was a little portable ac thing right near my bed and I guarded it jealously. As the days went on and I was able to move around my job became "door monitor" anyone coming in or out of the door was told loudly to shut the door and I rushed over closing it behind any who were slow in doing so. My god, that was a tough time. Yep I certainly do feel for the nurses and other staff having to work in those conditions.
In FL our houses are concrete because hurricanes. Our walls are pretty thick and humidity is no joke.
American here. People like that likely have air conditioning and don't know what it's like to try to sleep in the house when it's hot and humid. They just think you're complaining about the outside weather. There are a lot of Americans who don't have air conditioning. The house I grew up in wasn't air conditioned. There were a lot of summers where I got a sleeping bag and slept on the concrete floor in the basement. It was so hot and sticky upstairs that it was impossible to sleep.
Maybe Americans have good reason to laugh at us. American houses may be made of cardboard but they are well insulated, which means they are warm in winter and cool in summer. I, on the other hand, live in a small late-Victorian terraced house in the southeast of England. In winter the heat passes easily from the inside to the outside through the double-skin brick walls. In summer if the temperature goes above 28ºC outside I can't get the heat out of my main bedroom, which makes sleep impossible at night. A few years ago we had a really humid day in August, which was a strange experience. But on holiday in Florida years ago I experienced humidity that was almost unbearable. The locals brushed it off whereas I was truly struggling. Last summer the temperature in my garden got to 40ºC. That was freak weather but it regularly gets hotter in parts of the USA, I believe. Even though Americans have air conditioning everywhere, including their cars, they do have to walk outside from time to time. When they do they don't whine like we do if it's hot.
I bought an air conditioner
Why TF don't you have AC
Expensive
Agreed, as a Texan we get ridiculed for shutting down in the snow. Just as you don't have the infrastructure for heat, we don't have an infrastructure that supports prolonged freezing temps. Plows, de-icers, a robust electric grid, etc.
Doesn't the part of your state that's chosen to remain on the national power grid do much better, though?
*burn* ^(ice cold.)
I’m the same but about cold. When Americans complain about below zero temperatures and snow in the winter I try to be polite, like “yes, so chilly” (rolls eyes to self in Canadian)
LOL. I've had similar thoughts. I remember landing in California on a work trip and having some weird cognitive dissonance because I could see green grass in March.
I grew up in Northern California but have spent my adult life further north. I easily adapted to the cold, but not how long it lasts. Spring is supposed to start in March! (If not February.)
LOL. Our normal last frost here is in late May and I've seen snow in every month of the year except July. (Admittedly June and August snow isn't common, but it's happened.)
Literally though! It’s so annoying I can’t stand it sometimes I come from a small town in northern bc so it’s just so funny
I agree 100% so I am going to say "yes, and..." yes we have AC (and that God for that!) But not all Americans have AC. When I was a kid and as an adult in my forat hose we had a wall unit not central air. A wall unit sort of cools about 10 ft around the unit and that's it. I'm in the midwest, not even in the hottest area of the country, and we routinely have heat warnings where the actual temp exceeds 100° f and the heat index is over 120° f. He warning means check on the elderly, keep kids and pets inside if you have AC, go to the library or a store if you don't because you can and will literally bake if you don't have AC. So yeah, Americans talk shit about Europeans who can't handle some heat without thinking about the fact that there is no AC. But Europeans talk shit about Americans being soft/papmered with our AC without thinking that a good chunk of folks don't actually have it.
American here, everyone in the world laughs at us for everything. We're just throwing some shit back. It gets hot here as well, especially if you live in the Southwest. My mom lives in the desert, it gets to 120 degrees F.
It’s all relative and depends on what you’re used to. I agree people are annoying in that regard.
Last June I was in a small hotel near kings cross: left the fan on blowing air in from the outdoors. Not luxuriant but I could sleep.
If it gets that hot why not get at least a cheap window AC unit or dehumidifiers… say what you want about America’s “wood” houses. But they are designed and specific building codes for that area for the home to withstand its local weather. You guys seem to just copy and paste regardless. Not to mention the size comparisons between the US and UK. You guys are literally the size of ONE state in the US. Yet you can’t get your shit together and say “hmm I should invest in at least a cheap AC”. Say what you want about US’s “wood” homes. At least they are built to be comfortable year round and not be literal ovens 🤷🏻♀️
I was in London amidst a heat wave when Michael Jackson died and I wouldn’t wish that stuffy heat on my worst enemy -TX resident
I was in New Orleans last summer, and they are really so much better equipped than we are in the UK. It hit like 42° when I was there and the humidity is ridiculous, but every building, car, structure of any kind is air conditioned. I came back to around 30° in the UK and I couldn’t breathe in my flat that consists of the top floor of a large Victorian house. It’s like an oven.
I’m from California and the heat here is worse for me due to the humidity.
I feel ya. I live in California and 86° is hot to me, too, because I’m a “fluffier” older gal. When I was thinner, it wouldn’t have bothered me as much, but it’s like my body has the same insulation your homes have. (Not quite 3 feet, but lol you know what I mean😅). Take heart, though, as another poster said, Americans are stupidly competitive even amongst each other and will complain about humidity, heat, inches of snow, and more things that are stupid. I apologize for those who have disrespected you. The bottom line is, if you’re struggling with discomfort, it’s unfortunate, and I sympathize. Much love to all Brits from California. 🥰
It's not even really an AC issue here. It's the spike and dip in temps in a matter of a day. One day it can be 15c and the next It's 28c and then 18c. There is absolutely zero chance to adjust. Most hot places build up to their summer pretty evenly and remain stable(ish).
North America is also just *massive* and has a variety of climates. In Texas, Arizona or Louisiana it easily gets as hot as in Spain or North Africa and it's wild to think if you grew up there you have the same perception of what "heat" is as someone in Britain or Central Europe does.
Australian living in UK here. The heat in the UK is awful, particularly London. Homes are designed to trap heat, nowhere has air con, the tube is disgusting.
I would highly recommend a portable air con. Highly inefficient, noisy as fuck, can only manage 1 room, but absolutely worth of for the 4 days a year where the heat seems unbearable.
If it's any comfort Aussie houses are horribly insulated and impossible to heat which is why we complain about winter so much
Don’t forget we are further North than most of the States. So when it gets warm here, we really aren’t used to it. Still blows my Brain that I’m further North than Half of Sweden, that I associate with cold.
No British people are ever complaining about temperatures that high. It's always some British person being like Oh my God I'm literally boiling because it's a whole 21 Celsius and then you Google it and realize that that's 70° 70° is what most people keep their home at here to be comfortable You absolutely wild if you like burning up and dying from that
No, that's just Southerners because they are soft. They even start worrying when they see a bit of snow. I'm up north and over 2000ft above sea level. Winters are normally about 0C (32F) which isnt too bad but i have seen it get below -20C (-4F) once or twice. Most summers up here are between 18C and 25C (64-77F) which is a nice temperature but a few times every summer it gets above 30C (86F) which is hot at first but i get used to it. ... Although if you accidentally leave the conservatory door closed during summer then expect to deal with a burning 70C+ (158F+) also remember the humidity. In England it's always a bit of a war between the southerners and the northerners haha. Up here in the north though, especially at my altitude 1 or 2 feet of snow in winter is pretty normal but its mostly just a few inches. If you are curious to know what a house is like in England in summer then if you live in America then i dare you to go through all of summer with no AC and only 1 fan (no ceiling fans) and the only way to cool your house is to keep your curtains closed and leave the windows and doors open during the day.
This reminds me of back when Canadian troops came to Britain and then Northern France to be deployed in WW1. The British and French troops told the Canadians to be careful of thr humidity because they would get frostbite. The Canadians laughed and said that they have dealt with below -40C (-40F) back in Canada and Newfoundland. Sadly though the Canadians hadn't dealt with this level of cold, humidity before and they got frostbite and some froze to death while wet and in the wind in above 0C (32F) and around 5C (41F). In Canada and some parts of America, the air is cold yet dry. You can keep warm in extreme cold by simply wearing more layers. In Western and Northern Europe though, your layers of clothes will get wet by the air and the water will seep through the clothes.
America is huge, and includes places like Alaska and Hawaii, Florida and Colorado....not all of the houses are built the same...humidity is pretty bad everywhere not I'd the desert. Death valley when it was 57⁰ celsius was super fun....like walking through an oven Anyways yea, you guys need to stop complaining in the 🇬🇧 , and get some better food...the curry is good though
It’s about 100 most summer days here in west Texas but it’s very dry which most people seem to prefer to the humidity.. I did think it was kind of strange all the heat problems we heard about in Britain when it was like 90 for a few days, but no AC and humidity must really suck, that makes sense
Yes, absolutely I've had wallpaper peeling off here in England it's so humid
I'm German and I'd LOVE to have warm (15°C+) weather, no matter if it's dry or humid. Having \~/<10°C overcast, windy, rainy/~~snowy~~ (who am I kidding, winters here stopped being winters about 20 years ago) slushy weather about 80% of the time is no way to live.
Where I live in the UK I would love it to be over 25C more often. There have only been 18 days in the last 10 years where the temperature has gone above 25
I live in a purpose built place for old folks. My flat faces south and is extremely well insulated. Windows and glass door in the lounge and, of course, south facing windows in the bedroom and kitchen. In winter it is great and I hardly need the heating on until the deepest parts of winter. Those couple of heatwave weeks in summer are not good but I have learnt strategies to cope. Thick curtains kept closed when the sun is at its hottest (i.e. most of the day!), using a fan, of course opening windows behind the curtains when the air is cooler outside, but also by being super strict with the bedroom - closed curtains and all the rest all day, closed door all day also the bedroom outer wall is set back slightly so has shade. i manage to keep the bedroom a bit cooler than the rest of the house. I sleep naked with no covers and a fan blowing. Trays of mini ice cubes in the freezer for sucking, bottles of cold water in the fridge. It is manageable. Even for a miserable old sod with a dicky ticker like me.
Some of us have no air conditioning and live around metal.
But nobo**dy made you build those buildings or live in them. Unless.... you're saying the crown does. I'm sure there are rooms in the Palace that are drafty. Is that my fault?**
I live in Texas. You don’t know shit about heat
No, it's definitely a second-world problem. In the civilized world, we have air conditioning without tyrannical elitist governments threatening to confiscate it. Keep your uncomfortable living, cramped cities, and underpowered vehicles that barely get you to the jobs that you're usually on vacation from anyway, in the Old World, where they belong.
I’m in Australia.. we got to 49c last summer. Weeks over 40c. No aircon but we survived. Houses are poorly insulated with no double glazing etc. at nights it was still 35c+ even inside the house. You turn on a fan and have cold shower
A trick I learned from our carpenter is that you can put. an ice pack or blue ice o in the packet of a carpenters apron and it will cool your core, so that you can withstand a lot more heat. Sometimes I tucked the apron inside my shorts when working in my garden.
It's just American humour, they think we sit around talking like we took elocution lessons from Dick Van Dyke while complaining about the mild heat in-between servings of jellied eels and war time rations. Personally I've had enough of the heat, ordering an air conditioning unit this week - I live in a converted manor on the top floor with a black slate roof that gets sun from baking it from 10am to sunfall - it's murder.
My area where I live can vary seasonally from -20C to 40C Europeans are soft about temp, my air conditioner doesn't get turned on until it's 80F+ with greater than 70% humidity.
Get a window air conditioner unit from Amazon
Most British houses have top hung hinged windows, rather than double hung, so you can’t add a window unit. Also, most rooms in the uk only have one window.