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We've barely had 20 degrees in the Hebrides, but we had a thunderstorm last night where 93,000 lighting strikes recorded at Oban/Connel Airport. Some areas still without power and quite a few routers got fried. Nobody can remember a storm of that length and intensity in these parts - it was sheet rather than fork lightning, so you were just getting these continual flashes lighting up the sky, with only the occasional thunder clap.
i cannot wait for this heatwave to end it's been horrible. just the heat and the humidity. has been up to 38c yesterday and still bloody hot now.
I certainly chose a bad week to be welding - it’s not the welding itself so much as the fricking PPE. Quilted nomex jacket and big leather gauntlets. Fun.
It's been grim in Newbury. Thankfully someone seems to have turned the oven off now
The oven has gone off in Manchester now - quite pleasant outside at 9:30pm.
We had a thunderstorm earlier. Thought "ooh, great!" It caned it down for about 40 seconds and now it's even more humid.
It's been grim in Newbury. Thankfully someone seems to have turned the oven off now
I often stay in the central Newbury travel lodge…… so I know what you mean 😂
Another disappointing thunderstorm comprising a couple of bangs this evening.
Cracking weather in East Lothian today, blowing a gale in the sunshine but 23° that all kept the haar in the North sea
Probably one of the best summer days you get in Scotland, no midges, humidity normal and it's going to be a cracking sunset or maybe not it's very dark and cloudy looking north west over Fife
Continuing our motorcycle tour, we rode from the Western Italian coast near Portofino to a village near Greve in Chianti today. What should have been a 2½ hour trip took 6 due to more 40°C+ heat. I couldn't bear to ride more than 30 minutes without a break.
The air is so hot, even at motorway speeds it heats you up rather than offering any cooling effect. We have been drenching ourselves with water from head to foot and relying on evaporative cooling. It works for a short while, but after 20 minutes you are bone dry again and back in the blast furnace. Yesterday I actually felt a bit unwell towards the end of the day due to the heat and was worried I had mild heat stroke. I recovered after a long cold shower and gallons of fluids, but a bit worrying.
Thankfully we are now in one place for a week, with a pool, fridge full of beer* and nowhere particular we have to be. Hopefully by the time we head back in a week or so, temps might have dropped a little.
*I'm aware of the dehydrating effects of alcohol. Other beverages, including lots of water will be consumed.
Glad we're done in the SE, at least for now
We have been drenching ourselves with water from head to foot and relying on evaporative cooling. It works for a short while, but after 20 minutes you are bone dry again and back in the blast furnace.
Our old dog (13 but very sprightly in general) has really struggled in the last 2 heatwaves, more than we remember. Off her food which then causes a bit of digestive discomfort, not done a proper shit for about 3 days although a bit better this am - TMI, sorry. And just lies around looking like she's at death's door until a visitor arrives at the door when she's up and wagging same as normal. I think the major issue is she's just a bit of a drama queen (Cockapoo, can be known for it)
Anyway - any experience of these evaporative cooling vests for dogs. They're made of the same high surface area synthetic fibre as gym towels, etc so the dog's internal energy goes towards evaporating the water in the towel, same as sweating is supposed to work for us. I've read both good and bad, that if very humid the evaporation doesn't work great and then they start to act as insulators instead once you've warmed the water up, so you need to remove them once the vest is no longer cold; similarly if the evap cooling does work then once the vest is dry it needs rewetting or removing. Anyone got/used one?
We've kind of managed a bit by putting her in the paddling pool every couple of hours and wetting her fur around her legs and belly where the skin is more visible and then leaving her to dry off but we can't leave her soaking over tiled and wood flooring, a cockapoo's fleece holds more than you'd think and I've gone a over t several times in the past when she's been out in the rain and then floods the floors
I see that the heatwave is moving east and set to sustain.
France also suggesting an initial 1000 extra deaths, with a steep rise in that figure forecast. I wonder how we would all react to a winter storm that kills 1000...
Anyway - any experience of these evaporative cooling vests for dogs
We have one for our black lab. We got it a few years ago when we took him down to the Alps for a few weeks and there was a heatwave. While I can't get a review from the dog, it stays wet, he feels a bit cooler and it doesn't seem to do him any harm.
A brief respite yesterday then back up to high 30s today. Things are starting to look too dry for comfort with more forest fires than ever at this time of year. I don't know how much reporting of what's happening in France and Spain you get on UK media, a bit more might improve people's awareness of where the world is heading. On the (earlier than usual) mtb club ride this morning I was pleased to note one member has gone from sceptical about climatic change to coping with climatic change - only one more step to stopping climatic change.
Dragged two hot and grumpy teenagers up the Duddon for a swim, one swam, one didn't, one stayed grumpy. And still is.
Much more pleasant than yesterday though with the breeze. Yesterday was stifling and I had to mow the lawn. It nearly saw me off.
Hit 30 in the west of Ireland today. Hottest day since the dinosaurs.
don't know how much reporting of what's happening in France and Spain you get on UK media,
Short answer, not much in the UK media, unless there are deaths, as in Spain in the last few days. Grim.
I was in Corsica last week and the TV programmes in Calvi were dominated by the reports of fires across France.
I'm parked up at 1900m...
Bloody chilly. 13°C this evening, although there was a massive storm this afternoon
Quite a strong wind now, apparently 18°, feels like 13°, which seems about right. I’ve got the windows open at each end of my living room, and it’s definitely a fair bit cooler, I can hear my trees being blown around outside, about 13mph, with 23mph gusts.
My bedroom is directly above my living room, again with windows at each end, and some nights recently I’ve been cold in bed, having to pull my duvet off the floor where I’d kicked it! 🥶
Just been upstairs and closed the windows! It’s feeling quite chilly by comparison to earlier today, and the last few nights - this wind is making quite a difference! It’s north-easterly, instead of south/south-easterly which I think it’s been recently - there’s been little enough wind to tell.
We definitely need rain, mainly for the farms, also for the moors. We can see the smoke now (and last night), from the Tintwistle fire, above Glossop.
feeling lucky that we live in the NW and temperatures are def lower.
The rain usually starts about the time children break up for their summer holidays.
The rain usually starts about the time children break up for their summer holidays.
Along with some of the fires i would imagine
don't know how much reporting of what's happening in France and Spain you get on UK media,
Short answer, not much in the UK media, unless there are deaths, as in Spain in the last few days. Grim.
I was in Corsica last week and the TV programmes in Calvi were dominated by the reports of fires across France.
Los Gallardos is well grim,I’m on the border between Murcia/Andalusia although an hourish+ away from Bedar I do spend time that direction and know people that end.
My Facebook feeds pretty bad atm.
Where I am has had a few wildfires in the last few days but nothing like Bedar with 6,600 hectares involved and the deaths of people. 🙁
Our mini sheep (ragdoll cats) are kept in during the day - OK they are house cats but have an extensive catio, which our male ragdoll loves - he'd be out there most of the time. It's way too hot, we can at least keep the house cool for them.
Dovestones is on fire - I can see it from 15 miles away - bloody kids with fireworks yesterday - the idiots even filmed it starting (accidental) - hope they get caught.
Dovestones is on fire - I can see it from 15 miles away - bloody kids with fireworks yesterday - the idiots even filmed it starting (accidental) - hope they get caught.
Rumour has it that the M60 was shut this morning due to drifting smoke from Dovestones. Agree, hope they get nicked.
The smoke plume is massive, right across Manchester, looked like clouds when I cam down the M66. The smell is bad as well. The fire must be massive. Its warm and windy, idealbfire conditions.
Cool here last couple of days.Thank the lord.
Sadly, it seems that the cooler weather and rain that was forecast for next week has effectively evaporated! Temperatures here in the South West are remaining relatively high for the foreseeable future, according to the weather summary on my phone, which gets its local forecast from the Metoffice. I haven’t looked at WeatherPro for a long time, I’ll check to see if there’s any difference.
It’s saying there’s rain Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but temperatures are staying in the high twenties. Sigh. ☹️
Well all that plant a tree greenwashing by various less than honest corporations clearly isn't the answer to mopping up CO2 given the area of forest that's gone up in smoke over the last few years. There's smoke on the horizon and we're one of a host of fire symbols on a map of France. When I've planted things I've put them far enough away from houses to not have to chop them down when when we get ordered to remove vegetation around the house to reduce fire risk.
'Only' 34°C forecast for tomorrow. This is officially our third heatwave of the year and the forecaster on France 2 thinks there's another one after a brief respite.
We are screwed I'm sorry to say. Climate change rant/ramble incoming
Despite all the evidence of the need for action we've got presidents, governments and political opposition parties who will not acknowledge let alone take bold steps to deal with the reality and gravity of climate change.
The enormity of the problem means I think there will be many who simply cannot process it even in terms of an acceptance of the need for significant change let alone consequences. Denial as a coping strategy.
Ben Elton's This Other Eden looks alarmingly prescient as to how the population will react.
Now I'm towing much less I probably need to revisit the EV question and cut the daily diesel emissions.
We are screwed I'm sorry to say. Climate change rant/ramble incoming
Despite all the evidence of the need for action we've got presidents, governments and political opposition parties who will not acknowledge let alone take bold steps to deal with the reality and gravity of climate change.
The enormity of the problem means I think there will be many who simply cannot process it even in terms of an acceptance of the need for significant change let alone consequences. Denial as a coping strategy.
Ben Elton's This Other Eden looks alarmingly prescient as to how the population will react.
Now I'm towing much less I probably need to revisit the EV question and cut the daily diesel emissions.
Even my climate denying parents are finally grasping that this is grim and going to get grimmer.
While I'm all for everyone making their own small contributions to reducing emmissions, the fact is industry creates the majority of the damage. I'll do what I can, but not be guilt tripped into thinking I am the solution.
Now I'm towing much less I probably need to revisit the EV question and cut the daily diesel emissions.
It'll make no difference. Reducing carbon emissions to safe levels, even if it is possible at all, can only be done by global governmental and industrial collaboration on a massive scale. That's never going to happen while billionaires and elites hold the reigns of power. So crack on with your life and forget about it. There is literally no point in working people making individual sacrifices or life changes to save carbon.
It'll make no difference.
sadly correct, the single largest emitter is the energy industry (coal oil and gas) everything else, pales in comparison.
the single largest emitter is the energy industry (coal oil and gas) everything else, pales in comparison.
This seems like a weird lens to look at it through. "The energy industry" isn't extracting/burning coal oil and gas for fun. It's doing it so it can:
- power your home/workplace/school
- fuel your car/easyjet/lorries and vans that deliver stuff to you/the supermarket
- power the factories that make your bikes/clothes/food/everything else
Can we make a difference to the energy industry through our political actions?
Absolutely yes.
The "atomkraft - nein danke" movement effectively got all of Germany's nuclear power plants shut down meaning that Germany now has one of the highest levels of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe per head.
Ireland vs UK is probably an interesting comparison as they have relatively similar lifestyles - UK is around half the emissions per head of Ireland (which is worse than China on a per head basis). This is largely due to political choices - Ireland mainly burning coal whereas the UK has chosen to max out some cleaner options - solar and wind.
Can we make a difference to the energy industry through our political actions?
Absolutely, but individual action like switching to an EV or flying less makes no real difference. This requires radical strategic action at an international macro-economic level and the only institutions who can do that are governments and the corporations which control energy and raw materials production.
So by all means vote for politicians who intend to address the problem, but that's all you probably need to do. Even then though it's not much because there are people/elites much more powerful than us who have a vested interest in the status quo.
With a problem like climate change I'm reluctantly coming to the conclusion that western liberal democracy and it's market driven economy simply isn't fit for purpose. We need to be more like China basically.
Reducing carbon emissions to safe levels, even if it is possible at all, can only be done by global governmental and industrial collaboration on a massive scale. That's never going to happen while billionaires and elites hold the reigns of power. So crack on with your life and forget about it. There is literally no point in working people making individual sacrifices or life changes to save carbon.
I think that's not entirely true. AIUI there has been a reduction in some of the more evil emissions, and using an EV can send a small signal to politicians that people want them to take further action. Having said that I do feel a bit stupid fussing about recycling plastic bags in a world where Jeff Bezos flies half the state to Venice for a weekend.
and using an EV can send a small signal to politicians that people want them to take further action.
People are switching to EVs because the government has pretty much mandated it by declaring that all ICE cars will be outlawed at some point in the not too distant future. If they hadn't done that EVs would still be a niche product driven by a few virtue signalling trendsetters. Similarly people recycle because the govt mandated local authorities to provide recycling bins and collection services and reduce normal bin collections. Nothing changes without govt leading the way with policy which forces behavioural change. Like I said, be more like China, even if that has some dark and disturbing implications.
If they hadn't done that EVs would still be a niche product driven by a few virtue signalling trendsetters.
Or for those who aren't miserable synical climatic fatalists; people that have understood the damage to health, environment and climate done by ICEs, and don't want to be a part of the problem.
There's an articel in the Guardian stating 72% of articles on the recent heat waves make no mention of climatic change. The lowest percentage being the Sun with only 6% of articles making any reference to climatic change.
Umm no, i drive an EV , recycle a lot because i want to reduce my waste/impact. financial benefits help for sure , but arent everything.
Even my climate denying parents are finally grasping that this is grim and going to get grimmer
I've a mother in law who was climate change denying over the weekend, optimistic that this summer and the heatwave won't be repeated....
Thankfully I left her to spout Daily Mail and had the delight of a day with Jonathan Porrit which included a very brief phone call to Sir David 😎 While it's not changed the world, engaging at a challenging, intellectual level about the climate and nature emergencies was a welcome change personally.
Or for those who aren't miserable synical climatic fatalists; people that have understood the damage to health, environment and climate done by ICEs, and don't want to be a part of the problem
This + I have no idea what any little contribution I can do but for everyone who does **** all to even moderate their energy use (direct and indirect) the cycle of consumption and pollution runs a little faster, the grimness accelerates and the "evil industry" continues to serve that excess.
People are switching to EVs because the government has pretty much mandated it by declaring that all ICE cars will be outlawed at some point in the not too distant future. If they hadn't done that EVs would still be a niche product driven by a few virtue signalling trendsetters.
Is anybody really basing their decision on what car to buy on what a future government might or might not ban in 5 or 10 years time? I find that hard to believe.
I bought my EV a year ago. The lack of tailpipe emissions was certainly part of it, but mainly it is just a car that is smother, quieter and accelerates faster than any ICE car I’ve owned and it’s cheaper to run. I’ve had it for a year, done 25k miles with plenty of long trips and I still can’t see why anybody would really prefer a noisy smelly ICE car, but each to their own. Personally I couldn’t care less about a government mandate. If enough people still want to buy ICE cars in 2035 I’m sure the government of the day will change the rules to allow it. But I expect the main reason a lot of drivers stick with ICE is a fear of the unknown and uncertainty over whether it will suit all of their driving and those concerns will be reduced as they see more and more EVs on the road and talk to more owners.
FWIW I’m not a fan of the ZEV mandate. As far as I can tell it’s basically just the government trying to claim credit for something they expect to happen anyway. They think hardly anybody will choose to buy an ICE car beyond 2035 so they set that as a target to “ban them” so they can then claim credit. If the transition is a bit slower they’ll just extend the deadline or make it x% (where x is whatever they expect to happen anyway) rather than zero. If they actually wanted to encourage the transition they’d do so something to improve access to low power chargers for those that don’t have driveways rather than setting some meaningless target for a future government to change.
I've nothing against the EV mandate, as you said its kind of inevitable anyway. By 2035 having a law stopping the sale of ICE cars will be a bit like having a law stopping the sale in audio cassettes in 2010.
But about a third of UK homes don't have a driveway so that's 10 million cars that have to be charged in the street if private car ownership remains at the same level. What we should be doing is reducing out dependency on private vehicles not just electrifying them. But this is a far more complex issue than just saying your new car has to powered by electrons instead of hydrocarbons.
Is anybody really basing their decision on what car to buy on what a future government might or might not ban in 5 or 10 years time? I find that hard to believe.
The 2035 ban (formerly 2030) did a couple of things. It signalled to consumers that one way or the other the move to EVs was happening whether they liked it or not. Second it told car manufacturers and infrastructure providers that they needed to invest more in EVs and that their investments wouldn't go to waste. Without the mandate the take-up of EVs would have been much slower. In fact it was still slow so they had to push back the date of the ICE ban to 2035. It'll probably be pushed back further due to the problem of people with no off-road parking not being able to charge their cars.
This + I have no idea what any little contribution I can do but for everyone who does **** all to even moderate their energy use (direct and indirect) the cycle of consumption and pollution runs a little faster
For every person who denies themself a flight or enacts some other sacrifice, there are many more producing massive amounts of carbon, and that number is increasing as the world gets richer. It's tokenism at best, and the only solution is one applied to the whole population through govt action. Like I said, we need to be more like China, even if that has some disturbing implications.
