Australians are struggling to muster much sympathy as whingeing Poms swelter in what may prove to be the hottest temperatures ever recorded in the UK.
In fact, Britain’s heatwave hysteria is causing much amusement down under, where the record stands at 50.7C.
“It was the hottest day of the year in the UK and Brits could not cope,” declares the headline in The Sydney Morning Herald.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“Poms told not to go outside,” says Australian news site News.com.au. “Britain is melting, apparently, as it faces its hottest summer in a century. But don’t feel too sorry for our Pom mates - because it turns out their definition of ‘heatwave’ is dramatically different from ours.”
The site notes that the UK’s top hot spot, Santon Downham in Suffolk, saw the mercury soar to 33.3C, before dropping to 24.3C at 11pm - “a temperature most Aussies would probably welcome during out own scorching summers”.
The problem is that the English do not know how to cope with heat, said the Adelaide Advertiser newspaper yesterday in an article headlined, “Why British people can’t handle heat - and we can”.
The newspaper spoke to the president of Australia’s Climate and Health Alliance, Dr Elizabeth Hanna, who explained that Brits are not used to sweating so much and don’t understand the importance of staying out of the sun and drinking lots.
Abigail Malbon, a UK expat living in Australia, is also taken aback by the summer madness back home.
“I’m fully aware that everyone is laughing at the English. Look at them, with their ‘stifling’ heat, sunbaking in their gardens and complaining that it’s just too hot to bear. Can you believe they’re saying that they can’t sleep? That’s an average day here in January!” she writes on Nine.com.au.
But Malbon notes that if the tables were turned in winter and the temperatures dropped to minus degrees most days in Australia, it would be making the news.
“Aussies; give us a break,” writes Malbon. “We don’t get it very much, and when we do, we like to enjoy it the only way the Brits know how: by complaining, while simultaneously basking with a beer in hand.”
-
October 5 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday's political cartoons include half-truth hucksters, Capitol lockdown, and more
-
Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber bailoutTalking Point Should the government do more to protect business from the ‘cyber shockwave’?
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designationThe Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across SyriaTHE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
