The Great British Heat Wave

Snow in April

A British stereotype that has been steadfast throughout my time here has been the constant discussion of the weather. And I’m not referring to the basic small talk we all engage in to avoid awkward conversations at work or with acquaintances. The Brit’s actually talk about it like it isn’t something that occurs and changes as a natural requirement every day. They consider a few inches of rain a flood. A sprinkling of snow is worth a headline in the paper, and anything over 25 degrees Celsius (between the 80’s-90’s Fahrenheit) is going to melt their British flesh off.  

The British react this powerfully to weather in an average climate year, so 2016 has taken it to a whole new level. It snowed (briefly) in April which is stunning and caused great excitement. Furthermore, this summer has been the hottest in Britain in decades. With temperatures in the 30’s Celsius! Something unheard of, people actually got tan without going to Spain or a beauty shop. British beaches were enjoyable and the ocean was swimmable. The “British heat wave” has been all folks could talk about, you hear it on the TV, radio, in your Twitter feed, and every time you greet a friend.

Oh My God, it is weathering outside!

“Hi, how are you?”

“Great! Can you believe this weather! It’s so hot!”

The excitement got extended into this week when we experienced an Indian summer. An Indian summer is a British term for when the hot weather of summer gets pushed into traditional autumn times, like September. It makes them Brits go wild. In America, this only happens with the temperatures are in the 100’s degree Fahrenheit and we happen to have a drought going on at the same time. Or if a city has been snowed in, without electricity for multiple days. Otherwise the weather is like taxes, something we deal with but don’t discuss unless something is going seriously wrong.