In good old Blighty, excessive weather conditions are never welcome, be they heatwave, drought, big freeze, tropical storms, high pollen, and so on.
Years ago, ‘the weather’ was the most common topic of conversation. The theory being, it is the one thing other people around you are also experiencing and therefore have a knowledge of, so they can all use the weather to make conversation with another person, whether they know them or not. An ice-breaker (pardon the pun), if you like.
Guess what, technology is taking over. Last year a new research study indicated that the British public enjoys talking more about TV than the weather, with 72 per cent agreeing.
Seems to me, that for the last couple of weeks, the TV and the weather are one and the same. Pontificating ‘experts’ coming out of the woodwork with graphs, tables, pie charts, CGI’s, telling us how to avoid death by overheating and so on and so forth. After hours of ‘lectures’, they all seem to close with a similar statement that I have copied here from the Met Office website:
Three top ways to stay safe when the heat arrives are to:
1 Stay cool indoors: Close curtains on rooms that face the sun to keep indoor spaces cooler and remember it may be cooler outdoors than indoors.
2 If going outdoors, use cool spaces considerately.
3 Drink plenty of fluids and avoid excess alcohol.
What is all the fuss about? Surely we just need to use common sense.
John Lightfoot, Solar Solve Chairman
