Search icon

Climate Change

22nd Jul 2021

Americans are mocking the British ‘heatwave’ after realising how hot it really is

Kieran Galpin

English vs Americans: round two

It seems a second American Revolution is starting to happen, though this time the British and Americans are not fighting over land, but who has the hottest weather.

@imeyrick##stitch with @rae_harmon leave us alone we’re hot ?♬ original sound – iMeyrick

But British TikToker @imeyrick hit back against the claims.

“Point number one, we don’t have air conditioning, anywhere,” they said.

“Apart from, like, retail outlets. Some places will have it. But most homes do not have air conditioning. They’re not built with air conditioning, the best we can have is portable stuff.

“Point number two, is that our buildings are insulated to hell. Because we typically have mild summers and cold winters. So our buildings are designed to hold the heat to save energy costs.

https://twitter.com/rhubarbfrogs/status/1418195321448960003

“And point number three, your body will adjust to the climate that you live in.

“We don’t get that much hot weather, it lasts for about two to three weeks. Our bodies don’t have time to adjust, therefore our bodies literally cannot handle the heat.”

“I am from Libya and temperatures get to 55 degrees in the summer and I am in the UK at the moment and it’s hell,” writes one sympathetic user.

But why does the heat affect us Brits so adversely? This is reportedly down to three distinct reasons: we aren’t naturally acclimatised to the heat, we don’t have access to air conditioning, and finally, we are just awful at taking care of ourselves.

“[British people] don’t know how to take care of themselves, they stay out in the sun for too long and forget to drink plenty of water,” wrote Dr Elizabeth Hanna in The Advertiser.

“People who are not at all used to warm weather, particularly when it’s getting a little humid as well, can overheat very quickly.”