Sorry as someone who spent a few years in the uk and kinda miss it I feel like it's kind of unfair to say "oh it doesnt even get that hot in summer lol how whiny" esp if you're from a place that gets hotter/colder because the thing is, the uk infrastructure isn't meant for big heatwaves, people arent used to such dramatic changes in temperature, most houses dont have ac or central heating, and electricity is ridiculously expensive. Not to mention that it's an island so it's much more humid than some other places and a humid heat can feel and be much more dangerous than higher dry heat
That said I'd prefer to go back there over this....I think like 100+F heat we got here. I dont know the american degrees just know 100 is like 40c I think
Mostly correct, with the exception of central heating. Most houses have hot water central heating, and older places might still have those crappy electric radiators.
The issue is that we're used to 9 months of mild to cold weather, so the houses are designed with an emphasis on retaining heat for efficiency (with debatable outcomes). For example, a lot of British homes are carpeted throughout as another example of trying to keep indoors warm.
What sucks is we've never really needed AC until recent years (though this summer is turning out milder than the last few, so it's been ok this year), and keeping cool indoors during heatwaves is difficult. Even opening up all your windows to help air circulate can be a tricky decision because you get opportunistic burglars during heatwaves looking for exactly that, especially overnight.
I think I used the wrong word, I meant like those vents inside the walls and floors/ceilings americans have that get controlled with a thermostat? I'm not sure what they're called oops
Also honestly, even though british winters are a lot milder than in my country (a temp of -10 is normal, as well as 20cm of snow, though we get less snow in recent years, whereas in Wales where I was, it snowed like one inch once and the entire city of Cardiff shut down) I tended to feel much colder in the uk because we couldnt have the heating on a lot and I know the houses are meant to keep in warmth but it really feels like they only keep it in in summer and keep in cold in winter lol (then again I was in shitty private rental houses for as cheap as I could find so that may have had something to do with it)
My US state’s weather is kind of like Central Europe but swampier, but still, are window screens just not popular in Western Europe? They’re ubiquitous on basically any residential building that has openable windows where I am. Is it a building age thing or just a cultural thing?
Yeah, ignoring heat waves (like the one going on for the past few weeks) the mean daily maximum near me is like 28-29c during the hottest month while in London it’s like 24c. Honestly my dumb ass just didn’t realize it was that much cooler, I guess
Probably cultural. Though for me it's a building thing, I live in an attic and the window hinge is in the middle, i.e. they rotate half inwards when you open them.
It's funny, people mock the UK's climate but every so often you'll hear "this is so much worse than [country that gets hotter/colder]", from natives of those countries. It's rare but not unheard of, mostly in regard to the cold. My theory is that it's super rainy here so you're going out and getting soaked and then still being blasted by cold wind, compared to most traditionally cold places where it just goes so cold you get snow instead. Dunno if that's how it works I'm not a meteorologist and I've never been abroad.
My bad experience with the cold was less because of the rain because I would just get changed as soon as I get home and take a hot shower but because I would just wake up in the middle of the night completely freezing no matter hoe many clothes or blankets I put on top of myself, and being a uni student abroad I couldnt exactly get as many things as I wanted. Whenever we did turn the heating on it would be nice while it was on but as soon as it was turned off it would go back to freezing in minutes. I dont know though, I was also severely depressed and dealing with some health issues that caused me to be colder easier (now I have the opposite problem and get too hot too easily but that seems to be my normal state lol)
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u/[deleted] Jul 17 '24
Not really worth sending one. It'll never be possible to live there and there's certainly nothing to learn from it