Just brought a mobile air con unit from Amazon, its brilliant!
My bedroom is on 2nd floor of new build house and the heat builds quickly, this air con unit lowers the temperature from 27c to 22c in half an hour while lowering the humidity as well. Its a bit noisy so I turn it off before going to sleep and the room doesn't really heat up again as the temperature outside falls.
For £200 it's worth every penny.
Andy

Originally Posted by: Andy Woodcock 

So, here we are in day two of the heatwave. As expected, it's utter dross - not even a breath of wind, clouds that magically avoid going anywhere near the sun, and a dewpoint in the low 20s, which feels as disgusting as it sounds like. It's 24C at half nine in the morning and will remain above the July average max until nearly midnight tonight.

My electricty bill will be going through the roof today (the portable a/c will be working overtime) and yet I know it's still going to suck trying to sleep tonight. I'm half-zombiefied already and expect to be fully zombiefied tomorrow.

Originally Posted by: Retron 

Lovely day here, with temps forecast to max at 27c (just right!)

But it all gets swept away tomorrow. Thundery showers by lunch and temps to 21c. Sunday should at least be dry - but just 17c.

Further west, they don't even get that. Was looking at Anglesey and their max today is just 20 under cloud. Sunday and 16c.

Originally Posted by: Saint Snow 

The same here as well, a beautiful morning. It's just a shame it isn't going to last.

To be honest, I'm perfectly happy with Sunday's weather. Whilst I do prefer a pleasant warmth in high summer, I'm not really bothered about the temperature as long as it's dry and sunny. That's what frustrates me with cool weather in summer - if it didn't always come with cloud, rain and wind, I wouldn't mind it.

Originally Posted by: Bolty 

Vile. 21C dewpoints should be illegal in the UK!

Vile. 21C dewpoints should be illegal in the UK!
https://ukwct.org.uk/weather/wx.jpg 

Originally Posted by: Retron 

It's good fun seeing you suffer Darren. Seeing as you take great pleasure in relishing miserable cold weather in summer 😉 😅😅

Originally Posted by: moomin75 

At least the lucky Scots don't have the experience of waking up several times in the night, drenched in sweat... be careful what you wish for, folks!

It's good fun seeing you suffer Darren. Seeing as you take great pleasure in relishing miserable cold weather in summer 😉 😅😅

Originally Posted by: moomin75 

Good fun, eh? I'll remember that next time you're whinging in the MO thread, or writing off entire seasons in the first week! 😁

The difference with "miserable cold weather", of course, is that you can still get out and do things and more importantly get a good night's sleep. I defy you, Moomin, to get a good night's sleep when it's 33C in your bedroom. Just try it! (Or you can have a portable a/c running loudly, and 25C instead if you prefer - that's what I had last night). And it means the roads are populated by zombies in the morning - not much fun either.

I would be one of them if I were out and about, but thankfully I'm not.

...and of course today will be day three of the heatwave, 27C is the forecast max and that's right on the threshold. Sod's law, isn't it, that those who despise heatwaves end up with one, while those gagging for them miss out!

Originally Posted by: Retron 

So, here we are in day two of the heatwave. As expected, it's utter dross - not even a breath of wind, clouds that magically avoid going anywhere near the sun, and a dewpoint in the low 20s, which feels as disgusting as it sounds like. It's 24C at half nine in the morning and will remain above the July average max until nearly midnight tonight.

My electricty bill will be going through the roof today (the portable a/c will be working overtime) and yet I know it's still going to suck trying to sleep tonight. I'm half-zombiefied already and expect to be fully zombiefied tomorrow.

Originally Posted by: Retron 

I find it a paradox that our efforts to address energy use/loss by better building materials and insulation could in some cases force us to go for air conditioning to cool our homes in summer - putting up our energy use back to where we started. Is this a fair take on the present situation? I've not looked at the "energetics" seriously. I wonder if Q has? 🤨

Originally Posted by: Roger Parsons 

Well, the insulation in my house is the same as it was 40 years ago, aside from the new windows... thanks to the warming climate, it's crossed the threshold from "bugger me, that was a warm night" to "I need a/c to even think of sleeping" when we have our hottest summer days.

Judging by the number of a/c (as opposed to heat pump) condensers appearing locally, it seems that people in much newer (and thus much better insulated) houses than mine are succumbing too.

Give it another 20 years and I reckon you'll see a/c units everywhere down here... a bit like if you go on holiday to warmer countries now. Technically you need planning permission for a/c units, FWIW, but nobody bothers and the council here at least couldn't care less - they have more pressing matters to attend to with their limited resources. Oddly the a/c companies themselves either ignore the planning issue entirely, or outright lie about it! (Sample link here , it was the first Google match when I searched).

The actual rules are here - the a/c companies saying they're legal without planning conveniently ignore the "must be used solely for heating purposes" bit!

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/heat-pumps/planning-permission-air-source-heat-pump 

Originally Posted by: Retron 

Was in London for the weekend enduring more of the same crap as has been suffered here for an eternity. Sun couldn't stay out longer than about 10 minutes at a time. Only difference was it was warmer.

Flight home on Sunday night was cancelled so I ended up being subjected to a 7 hour train journey on Monday from which I was able to enjoy astoundingly varied, interesting and beautiful skies for the entirety of the journey. This is just a taste of what I was treated to. It will have weather enthusiasts all around the world salivating in awe:

Retford, Nottinghamshire


Tadcaster, North Yorkshire


Newton Aycliffe, County Durham


Alnwick, Northumberland


Dunbar, East Lothian


Back home and It's a case of having to endure a life not worth living in what is resembling a plot from a dystopian horror movie in which a cloud seeding experiment has gone disastrously wrong.

Even days that are forecast to be sunnier, like today, see cloud just sitting there the entire time for no apparent reason while even the likes of Peterhead and Fraserburgh manage to enjoy sun. In fact everywhere else does because it is only here that is subjected to hellish grey skies every single day. 29 on the trot now, smashing the ludicrous 26 in a row in 2012 that was thought to be so bad for summer it would have no chance of ever being equalled never mind beaten.

Originally Posted by: richardabdn