For the benefit of those living in warmer climates, when we complain about #ukheatwave we're not trying to imply that our island's weather is hotter than yours. 🙄

We live on a damp island surrounded by water. So when it gets hot with high humidity, the heat hits different and our infrastructure doesn't really cope with it well.

Nine months out of the year our weather is grey skies and drizzly rain. Our winters have freezing temperatures so our houses/flats have 2+ layers of brickwork/insulation & double-glazed windows that open outwards to save on heating bills. Most homes don't have ceiling fans or air conditioning because it's rarely hot enough to justify the expense.

So when a heat dome descends on us due to global warming, and it goes on for more than a couple of days, our homes turn into ovens and we find ourselves living in Satan's sweaty butt crack. The only escapes are our cars (if they're parked in the shade), air conditioned supermarkets, and poo-filled waterways.