It's Hot, Hot, Hot - how are you coping ?

I thought I ought to write a post here, on the day that temperatures are likely to exceed the highest we've ever known - after all, it might be a day, week or month which is remembered in history for this very thing. 

Or, sometime in the future, it may even be noted as the time when we had relatively low temperatures compared with what they are then experiencing - in say, 2072 and beyond, whether due to climate change or not.  

While the Met Office seem to often  say  "since records began in 1914" to describe any kind of record topping  weather (such as 2007's 'wettest summer'  and 1976's 'heatwave'),  there are of course records that go back much further. Rainfall and snow is measured by the 'England and Wales Precipitation Series', which  goes back to 1766, and the 'Central England Temperature Series' which covers the temperature from the south Midlands to Lancashire, and dates from 1659. Many records have been kept on a personal basis by amateur meteorologists of course, who have kept weather diaries recording not only the weather but also the effects on wildlife and plants. Clearly, it takes many years to assess and transfer this data onto computer and before that is done, which is an endless task, I wonder if we can make too much of 'records' gathered even over centuries. 

The Ancient Greeks, and many other early civilisations, attributed weather changes and natural phenomena to the gods. Lightening was the way that Zeus, and Thor in Nordic mythology, showed their anger. Gods and goddesses were elements of the weather and seasons personified. The then unexplainable forces of nature, weather and astronomy, explained to themselves in this way. Due to their continuous observation of nature, though not as advanced as modern science, their knowledge helped them better understand weather changes and find ways to benefit from them. The word 'climate' stems from the Greek 'klima' meaning inclination, referring to the climate conditions created by the angle of the sun. 

As I write this at 5pm BST, according to the weather app on my phone the temperature is currently 37 degrees where I am in the UK, which is certainly the hottest I have experienced, even in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Morocco or central Spain. So far today the blinds and curtains in this house  have been closed since 6.30 am, the dogs have not moved much further than a foot from the fan in the living room and the chickens have been fed frozen peas, sweetcorn and broccoli, all of which was just about unfrozen by the time I got it to them at the bottom of the garden.

 

My old car does not have air conditioning so I was glad that I'd left the windows covered with a duvet cover, from yesterday's journey. It was almost unbearable as there is no breeze at all today so despite the windows being open it was still very hot. 

Fellow shoppers and me were less than amused when on entering Aldi for something cool, we found the shutters were just coming down over the 'chilled' and 'frozen' sections. The fridges and freezers apparently needed some time to get themselves down to acceptably low temperatures. I did feel a little smug that I had succeeded in making some fruit sorbet (apricot and mint to be precise) yesterday, which I have been going on about to my daughters since I saw a recipe on some tv programme last week - even though it did take a full 24 hours to make. I also hoped that my fridge freezer, did not decide to give up the ghost today or the net coming days.

I do not have a particular point to make here today or a unique idea of what should or should not be done in relation to climate changes in general - it's too hot for my brain to function at that intellectual level anyway. 

Here's hoping that everyone takes as much care as they can during these hot days and that vulnerable people and animals are not too uncomfortable. This is the UK remember - summers may be getting hotter with each year that goes by, but it won't be long until we are complaining to each other about how cold and wet it is. 

Off to water my tomatoes ...