Hottest May day for nearly 80 years as parts of UK hit heatwave threshold | UK weather
Posted by j_mantuf@reddit | collapse | View on Reddit | 42 comments
Hephaestus1816@reddit
Doesn't help that the vast majority of UK housing stock, which is old, was designed and built to trap and conserve heat. We gently broil in them, during heatwaves. Temps in the Midlands today expected to reach (checks notes) 34C. An overnight low of 17C. That's the worst part, for me. Being unable to cool down at night, and sleep properly. The house is several degrees hotter upstairs. I've been sleeping on top of the covers since Tuesday and I am tired.
Frostyrepairbug@reddit
Get a hammock. Having that airflow under you will help with sleeping in those temps.
Hot_Surround7459@reddit
I live in a top floor flat. My flat is like a sauna. I’ve seen that closing the windows and blinds helps keep the heat out. But I’ve been opening them to get a breeze through and I’m not sure if there’s any difference. It’s awful.
j_mantuf@reddit (OP)
Try the frozen bottle between your thighs (crotch actually), really does help in my experience.
Also a cold, wet towel around your neck.
Hephaestus1816@reddit
Been there - 3rd floor, London. I do open everything up in the early mornings to let cool air in, then close the windows and curtains that face south, but honestly, once the inside reaches the same temp as outside (which it always does by mid afternoon) I would just open every window I could to try and get airflow of any kind. I do it in this place too, which is a semi with a loft. At least moving air feels cooler than smothering air. We've got til 6pm until the temps start going back down. I'm sweltering, all four cats flat out and belly up in various spots around the house. And same again tomorrow?!
AngilinaB@reddit
I'm so lucky that my tiny garden flat has a north facing living area to flop out in today and south facing bedrooms that stay warm in winter.
Sweet_Speed3382@reddit
Here in Mumbai, India, we have 34 c day time and 30c + even at nights.. The cherry on the cake is 60+ humidity and people here are literally melting without ACs. The world is going to burn in 2026-27... Cities are going to be uninhabitable soon, one way or another it seems..
Hephaestus1816@reddit
I know. I've been watching from over the pond and I do worry. Indonesia, from what I've observed, is getting shellacked this year too. The flooding in China is biblical. My concern for you guys is the power grid - can it cope with demand and such high temperatures? If it fails, where even would you all go for safety and relief from the heat? And your livestock, wildlife, the growing seasons?! We humans are really up against it. Is it going to take a mass casualty event for world governments to make climate change the priority? idk.. I don't want to find that out, frankly. I hope you all stay safe and well, over there in Mumbai.
Automatic-Funny-8842@reddit
https://www.telegraphindia.com/amp/india/up-power-crisis-sparks-protests-as-load-shedding-worsens-during-severe-heatwave-prnt/cid/2162107
atascon@reddit
Not even. Huge amounts of properties still have draughty single glazed windows and complete lack of insulation. We have so many properties that are basically terrible for anything other than a nice spring day.
Hephaestus1816@reddit
Really really.
Age of housing units in England in 2025, by tenure
Published by Statista Research Department, Jan 27, 2026
Most of England's housing stock is owner occupied and built before 1919. Among the homes built after 2003, about 1.1 million homes were owner occupied, about 247,000 were privately rented, and approximately 326,000 were social housing. The largest share of social housing was found in buildings built between 1945 and 1980. In 2025, there were around 16.2 million owner occupied households in England.
RichieLT@reddit
32c? not great, not terrible.
Sir_Troutface@reddit
It’s too fucking hot for England in May mate
HassanAchievedIt@reddit
32 is cool temp for us in Pakistan, today right now it's 48 Celsius at 6 pm evening
EIizabeth_Bennet@reddit
No you don't get it. There is ZERO AC in the UK! AND there is NO WIND!!!! It's just stale and stagnant HOT air. I come from Kuwait and even this is nothing like I have seen before!
Sir_Troutface@reddit
Fuck that, I’d be emigrating ASAP. It’ll be unliveable there in ten years. Get out while you can.
RichieLT@reddit
You missed my sarcasm sorry lol
Traxad@reddit
The irony of downvoting that specific line of all things without knowing the context.
Cloberella@reddit
26c is 75f and they're calling it a heatwave. I live in the midwest of the US and it was above 75f by 8am this morning. We just call that Spring temperatures. It'll be 35c/95f on a daily basis by the end of July here.
BlackMassSmoker@reddit
You known it's heatwave in the UK when you find yourself in a beer garden by midday.
Going by various weather apps it's currently somewhere between 31C-33C. It's ungodly hot, I've had to retreat inside.
traveller-1-1@reddit
I used to worry about this, I recall the 70s when global warming was first discussed. Now I just want to live long enough to watch.
FearMyCock@reddit
Why do you want to watch it
HassanAchievedIt@reddit
I mean he or me can't alone reverse the melting glaciers or remove carbon from atmosphere, might as well pop a soda can pull out 2 hammocks and watch chaos unfold in distance
ZettaiZetsumei@reddit
gonna see this headline every year
anxioushowlermonkey@reddit
every month*
brickout@reddit
we're going to see new records for the month of May every month? wow, that's crazy.
RainbowandHoneybee@reddit
I think the difference between high and low temp kind of mess with a lot of nature, including humans.
It gets really hot during the day, but it's relatively cool in the morning. My garden is being chaotic. My rose bush is going ott while my hydrangea is totally dead. I was assuming temp going up and down too much might be the reason.
PrizeParsnip1449@reddit
Grew up in SE England in the 1970s/80s. Big hydrangeas used to be a common sight, I think it's too hot and dry for them now. They still do OK in Scotland for example.
SE now has the climate of central France, Loire region or so, a couple of decades ago.
Give it another 25 years and it'll be Mediterranean. And I'm not convinced the UK is set up to handle that.
violetgothdolls@reddit
I was thinking exactly the same thing about hydrangeas the other day (when lamenting the sad demise of mine).
CthulhusEvilTwin@reddit
We've spent centuries developing houses that keep heat in. We are in no way prepared to keep it out.
j_mantuf@reddit (OP)
SS:
The article says the UK is experiencing an unusually intense May heatwave, with temperatures reaching levels not seen in nearly 80 years. London’s Kew Gardens recorded 32.3°C (90.1Freedom units) and forecasters warned temperatures could climb even higher, possibly breaking the UK’s May record of 32.8°C.
Scotland reached 23.5C in Edinburgh, just 0.1C below the record of 23.6C set in Aboyne on 1 May.
Several parts of England officially entered “heatwave” status after recording high temperatures for three consecutive days, including areas in Suffolk, London, Oxfordshire, and Essex. The hot weather is tied to a strong high-pressure system pulling warm air from southern Europe and North Africa.
Climate change is set to make these UK heatwaves more frequent and intense.
SeventhSunGuitar@reddit
Records are going to be smashed today. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/may/25/uk-weather-35c-england-unprecedented-may-heatwave
j_mantuf@reddit (OP)
That’s insane.
Appreciate the link.
Beginning-Panic188@reddit
The fever most people neglect ... interesting take on the problem
VanillaHuel@reddit
Once some British morris dancers were surprised that American morris dancers stopped dancing soon after May Day instead of continuing all summer.
Now they will understand.
Comfortably-Numb2026@reddit
What is a morris dancer? (Google time I suppose)
VanillaHuel@reddit
Shakespeare referenced morris dancing... earsliest reference in 1300s church receipts ... each village jad its local style of traditional folk dance, in sets of most ofen six people going around in changing patterns, with bells worn on the legs... performed at harvest and spring times ... you will see them at dawn on May 1 where there are childrens maypole dancing and singing...
CthulhusEvilTwin@reddit
Evil folk people who terrify us decent citizens with buffoonery involving handkerchiefs and sticks. They're not right (I was traumatised by morris dancers as a child)
Correctthecorrectors@reddit
Why the whole word isn’t dramatically voting in the most Left Leaning politicians to fight global warming at this point basically proves that the population of earth are beyond saving at this point. Humans will be the last “intelligent” species on earth capable of great things, but instead they’ll just piss it away, go extinct in the next 50 years. Life will not evolve much further than it is now because in 250 million years from now earth will be uninhabitable most likely because of the sun growing brighter.
Pretty fucking depressing when you think about it. As if life and existence was already sort of pointless. Now there’s no hope that any civilization will grow beyond this solar system at all. What an unfortunate way to piss away such a wonderful living arrangement that is exceedingly rare in this universe.
Sputnik-overdrive@reddit
I hate it, too damn hot and dry already, water restrictions will come, then we’ll have a months worth of rain in a day and the rivers will burst again, keeps flip flopping between different extremes and it’s getting worse
friendsandmodels@reddit
Not even in the UK and its hot af
StatementBot@reddit
The following submission statement was provided by /u/j_mantuf:
SS:
The article says the UK is experiencing an unusually intense May heatwave, with temperatures reaching levels not seen in nearly 80 years. London’s Kew Gardens recorded 32.3°C (90.1Freedom units) and forecasters warned temperatures could climb even higher, possibly breaking the UK’s May record of 32.8°C.
Scotland reached 23.5C in Edinburgh, just 0.1C below the record of 23.6C set in Aboyne on 1 May.
Several parts of England officially entered “heatwave” status after recording high temperatures for three consecutive days, including areas in Suffolk, London, Oxfordshire, and Essex. The hot weather is tied to a strong high-pressure system pulling warm air from southern Europe and North Africa.
Climate change is set to make these UK heatwaves more frequent and intense.
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/1tmw8mb/hottest_may_day_for_nearly_80_years_as_parts_of/onpvqsh/