The UK gets it's highest temperature - ever!

Yesterday temperatures soared in the UK. The highest temperature since records began 300 years ago was recorded in Kent. The mercury hit 38.1C / 100.6F

Here in Northern Ireland we lagged behind with 31C / 86F

Wow we had thunder storms and torrential rain all day. Very muggy up here!

Hope you managed to stay cool Philomel! ;)

How are all your plants/flowers/veggies holding up?

I've been keeping up with the news Mark and it's even worse where my daughter is in Gemany. Her highest was 116 and they are suffering badly with no a/c. Her lovely garden is no more. Thank God it's supposed to cool down in about five days.

my garden is fine because it is planted solely with South African composites

The hardy Geraniums in pots out the back are OK cos they are mainly over now and cut back. They will flower again in about a month

Usually August here is hot and dry, no rain, but its been cool with rain several times a week. Helps with the water bill!
Mark, can I leave geraniums potted and bring them in for the winter?

hardy or Pelargoniums?

latter yes

former no - why arent they in the ground?

I have been watching the weather reports from your side of the world and feel for you since we just had similar temps for the longest time ever recorded. Toooooo hot!

Wow, that IS really hot for you all, Mark! Look at this photo at Yahoo -- one Dane's reaction to the heat. ;)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1756&e=1&u=/030810/168/4xva7.html

Yep, been enjoying it thanks psilo

The record was made just about 15 miles from my house, so I guess it was very close to that here. My niece and family were staying. They live in Milan, so the weather was not far from what they're used to, but it was far from what they were expecting LOL. Nic, who's Italian and hasn't been in England in the summertime before, found it very hard to believe and kept muttering something Italian under his breath, expressing astonishment *g*.

What're your normal temperatures for this time of year Pond?
Wow, Louisa, that sounds bad for your daughter. I suppose central europe is usually hotter than us in the summer time, but that is extreme!

our normal temp here is 89 degrees for today. We got to 103 today though. That is our 22nd day of over 100 this year I believe. Record breaking as we have never had over 15 days of over 100 in a year. sigh I want to move back to the mountains of Montana again. lol

The International news reported that three thousand people had died in France. It really must be lovely for most of you in England but I doubt whether you would be able to stand it for months on end. Lani, that's too much and I hope the weather soon breaks. DD said that they had been eating their suppers in the garden over the past few days and on the last two occasions a fox visited them just yards away watching them eat. The poor thing was hungry but mostly thirsty...I mean, how are the animals coping and the farmers come to think of it.

oh my goodness, I hadn't heard of all the deaths! It is so sad that people aren't prepared better for such things. At least we are used to a few days of over 100 each year here. All of you that don't know what to do with the heat the main thing is to drink plenty of water or juices. And when you can get the air moving with fans or other air moving devices.

I ask this totally seriously...Do they drink more wine in France than in other European countries? Would that have to do with people being more dehydrated and less able to withstand such heat? Again, I'm serious in asking!

GW, alcohol is a diuretic and wine has definately got alcohol. I don't know if they drink more in France but I do know what my Doctor told me when I was last hospitalized for heat stroke.

That was my link of thinking, Lani. I just have always heard that wine is served with most meals in France, but maybe that was just all my youthful teenage yearning to live in a country where wine flowed like water! ;)

I havent heard about all those deaths in France

I saw it on the news last night, and there was a French doctor on there,when what he was saying was translated, part of it was that 'they (the french)were laughing at us a few years ago when we struggled to cope with a flu epidemic!! but now they're struggling over the amount of people affected by this heatwave.'
I think from what they were saying that its being used as a political whipping stick.

Every August most of France goes on holiday - including the senior doctors.
They seemed to think that also a lot of families had gone 'en vacance' leaving elderly relatives alone at home and that it was a number of these stay at homes who were suffering

Wine is very heavily consumed in France. My uncle has two brothers who are French, it is normal to have 2-3 bottles of wine with each meal.

Or maybe that is when they are entertaining guests? Not sure, but when I went in '83 and when my parents went in '98 and when my niece went in '01, we were all treated to lavish feasts (drooling in remembrance) where the wine poured like water. Aperitif (sherry usually) before the meal, one type of wine was served with the soup, another with the seafood course, another with the main course, a dessert wine was offered with the fruit course, and of course, brandy after dinner!

No, not just when entertaining ;)
Depends on the family. The not so well off will perhaps stick to just the one wine (with aperitif before and something to follow on special occasions) but.....

philomel, that makes sense. When we have the same heat waves here (US), it is the elderly that are not prepared, or looked after. It should be common sense to call in on any elderly neighbor at times like this.

Yes, golddog, they often have less reserves to fall back on and can't endure extremes as well as younger people.
My Mum's 92 and I've been popping round and phoning to make sure she's OK as I know she finds the heat trying. She's been doing fine though, adjusting windows doors and curtains to maintain the best conditions possible and more importanty, drinking loads and not doing too much.

That last comes hard to her though as she spends all her days looking after her lovely garden. Think she finds the frustration of not being able to get out on it the worst thing!

Well, here in Western Canada on the coast it has been a cooker the last two weeks!!! To see the golden lawns and grasses of parks and residential areas is relatively new to us!........more like California! We are on watering restrictions down to one day in the eaarly morn and early eve! This is for lawn sprinkling alone! I began a mulching proram in my garden.....hemlock-fir chips, and if this summer is indicative of summers to come...this certainly has helped to conserve H2O! don't water the lawn at all! 843 fires burning throughout the provinces of B.C. and Alberta, alone.....this is beginning to sound like a news report???? goodness me! take care, everyone! Elaine

Oh, how terrible! You take good care, too, Elaine! Good to see you, by the way.

Elaine, it must be awful to have your lush green area turn beige. I would send you some rain if I knew how! We all are learning how to xeroscape, but thankfully we mostly skipped our annual drought.

The temps here were about the same as Ponditis, longest hottest heat wave since they began keeping track. We at last got a break in the temp. Actually yesterday it was cloudy all day NO RAIN, and the temp. never got above 71 degrees. Now today sunny again and now at just after 4:00 pm the temp is 90 degrees. At those temps I only go outside to irrigate. Donna

you know, I got to thinking and we never had a/c in Germany when I grew up. No one that I knew had one. That must be horrible when the temps go up like they have there

Yes, our only domestic a/c is in cars and that's only been catching on more recently - so lots of people don't have it still.

It used to be going for a drive to get the baby to sleep, now it's going for a drive to cool off LOL

(...or a trip to a supermarket, the cinema, or some other place with a/c)