According to the Met Office forecast, today’s temperature will hit 30°C around 4 pm. That is not really all that hot and we have had temperatures in the low 30s before, if only occasionally and for short durations. The crunch, though, is expected tomorrow and Tuesday when the maxima are expected to reach 36° and 37°, respectively.

Now, I know that if any Australian or American readers happen upon my blog or, more generally, our increasingly hysterical news sources, they will be rolling their eyes to heaven, wondering what all the fuss is about. To them, such temperatures are nothing unusual snd they have measures in place to deal with them. So why are the whingeing poms making such a fuss?

The point, of course, is that for us such temperatures are far from usual and set a worrying (perhaps I might stretch that to frightening) precedent. Those of us who are not climate-change deniers will be wondering how much higher the mercury will rise and how soon. And we certainly do not have measures in place, a matter on which our government had been singularly inactive. For now, though, we will be waiting to see how our infrastructure and the normal processes of national life stand up to the heat. Will workplaces be forced to close and will bus, tube and rail services collapse under the strain?

Of course, it may not even happen. Anyone who watches the weather forecast as assiduously as I do (I have made reference to the Met Office app on my phone) is used to seeing the forecast change radically within the hour or even within minutes. Tomorrow, then, could instead turn out to be cool and wet or cold with gale-force winds. Anything is possible in Shakespeare’s “precious jewel set in a silver sea”. We must wait and see.

Keeping to the shady side

As usual, we went out to Sainsbury’s to do our weekly shopping. Tigger feels the heat even more than I do and so we walked slowly and kept to the shady side of the street.

Chapel Market – a full turnout

What I did not expect was the to find Chapel Market crowded out. There were stalls the whole length of the street, the first time that has happened since before the pandemic. As well as the usual stalls, there were ones I had not seen before, all packed closely together. Why, I wonder?

In Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s was about as busy as it usually is on Sunday and we sped round without any difficulty. I did notice that the aircon was keeping the air very cool. I suspect that if the next two days are as hot as predicted, supermarkets will become places of refuge where people forced to go out into the streets will go to cool down. That’s assuming that the aircon can cope.

Another view of the market

As usual, I hurried through the market to Mercer’s to buy our coffee before heading home. I did notice that Pentonville Road was very busy so that we had to wait quite a while before we could cross. What that means, if anything, I cannot say.

Later…

I decided after lunch that I would venture out at around 4 pm to experience the 30°C temperature for myself. Tigger declined to accompany me but gave me her blessing 🙂

Earlier than originally forecast

However, one of those changes to the forecast mentioned above had taken place and the temperature had reached 30° already at 2 pm. (Timings on the display tend to be for the next hour onwards.

Myddelton Square Garden

So I put on my shoes and hat and went out. My chosen destination was Myddelton Square Garden where I hoped to find a bench in the shade to set up our…

Electronic thermometer

…electronic thermometer. (You may be able to read “Hendon Library October 2004” on the bezel. That’s because I worked at that library and after it was refurbished we staff were each given one of these multifunction devices as a memento.) As you can see, after thinking about it for a few minutes, the thermometer displayed a temperature of 30°C. Yes, I did stand it in the shade as you are supposed to do. I stood it on my purse in case the metal bench or stone wall would be hot and influence the reading, so I think this is near enough the correct value for the air temperature.

River Street

Having measured the temperature and shown that the Met Office forecast was correct, I went for a little walk, first in River Street. (You can probably just dee the red awnings of the deli. I didn’t visit it was they would be closing about now.)

Myddelton Square, east side

I then returned to Myddelton Square. I know you’ve seen pictures of this before but it is a lovely place and I keep on photographing it.

Cutting through the garden

I cut through the garden, being careful not to disturb the sunbathing pigeons, and made my way home.

There was a gentle breeze at moments and in the shade under the trees it was quite pleasant. Come Monday and a temperature of 36°C, it won’t be so pleasant, especially where there is no shade. Tigger has to go to work and is not looking forward it. I will go out, just to experience it but otherwise will stay at home in front of an electric fan.