Among the many others to bite the dust this afternoon, is our own, little-loved, now EX governor-general. Apparently this despite advice of Ruth Davidson who had asked the new prime minister to spare him. Presumably, this is why he didn’t have the sense to resign while resigning was a possibility, like Rory and Hammond. He presumably thought, like Ruth, that she had influence.
According to the Herald, Mr Johnson’s move threatens to deepen his rift with Scottish Tory leader, who had made it abundantly clear that she wanted Mr Mundell, 57, to remain in post.
So now we know what Boris thinks of the Colonel.
It also indicates to Munguin, that possibly Boris has his own man ready in place to put in the governor-general’s post.
He has rewarded others who campaigned for him during the contest, so why not for the position of Scottish Secretary.
Now, out of the Scottish MPs, who would be most likely to have impressed BoJo?
Other sacked second-raters include: Failing Grayling (well, you can kinda understand that one), some people called Hind and Noakes of whom I’ve never heard.
Scarily, Dominic Rabb is Foreign Secretary and Preti Patel is Home Secretary.
Lower down the ladder, but equally capable of making a huge mess, is Andrea Leadsom at Business (can you imagine her organising companies to be ready in 99 days for a no-deal Brexit?)
Liz Truss is back in the cabinet too, taking over from DOCTOR Fox, who, as he has been in the past, was a complete joke as Trade Secretary.
Villiers is back, as Environment Secretary.
More will be revealed, I expect, as the night wears on. There’s an updating page here, if anyone is that interested.
Alistair Jack promoted from whip to Scottish secretary
Alistair Jack is the new Scottish secretary. He was only elected to parliament two years ago, as MP for Dumfries and Galloway, and he only joined the government as a whip earlier this year. It is very unusual for an MP to make cabinet this quickly. But the Tories only have 13 MPs in Scotland, and so Boris Johnson’s options were limited.
I understand the Tories are down to about 10% in the polls here in Scotland. Now I wonder why that could be? No. Not a clue. Utterly beyond me. https://t1p.de/7cptxh
” However, on the face of it, the Lib Dem vote has increased in Scotland at the expense of unionist parties and not the SNP – which would be the dream scenario. If that pattern holds, we could see the Lib Dems splitting the unionist vote in a way that actually helps the SNP gain seats from the Tories.”
it’s Alister Jack – no I don’t know anyone who spells it like that either. Anyhoo, he is reckoned to be worth circa £20 million and
“Scottish Tory frontbencher: “Alister is capable but the reason he is so popular with the UK party is because he invites ministers to his country estate. It is not the image we want to project.”
In that first pic, has Mundell been dyeing his hair? It’s the same colour as one of my cleaning brushes with the brass wire tufts.
Anyway, I discovered I’d been mixing Alister (hah!) Jack’s constituency up with Fluffy’s – Dumfries, Clydesdale and Tweeddale v. Dumfries & Galloway – so as far as I’m concerned, the name has changed by the constituency hasn’t. I hope the good electors of those two constituencies reflect well on what they have done… Anyway, let’s see how Alister (sic) distinguishes himself in office, which is mainly brainwashing us Jockanese and telling us how high to jump.
I deliver up my earnest prayer that he be the last (or possibly penultimate) in a long line of useless and often pernicious secretaries of State for North Britain.
A limited choice for Seccy of State indeed among the dirty baker’s dozen Tory MPs – but not as limited as when Fluffy Mundell was elevated to his position pushing the tea-cart. What a shame he never got a chance to resign, eh?
I am hoping for a very early General Election, i.e., that BoJo fails to survive an imminent vote of no confidence, and that the MacNeil-McEleny plan is made part of the SNP election manifesto.
Please please please let this horrible phony war period be over, and let the negotiations for independence begin.
The whole cabinet pantomime becomes clear when you realise that Johnson’s choices were determined by the lyrics and titles of Stock Aitken Waterman hits of the 90s.
Puzzled why Patel was chosen as Home Secy? – “Together Forever”.
Andrea Leadsom in any role other than shelf stacker? – “I should be so lucky”.
We thought Ross Thompson would be ScottySecy? – “I’d rather Jack”.
Tris What will it take to get the SNP off their arse. I’m so frustrated now and have been blogging about it for two days. https://grumpyscottishman.wordpress.com/2019/07/24/sick-to-my-stomach/ The gradualist approach is killing independence and they are leaving it too late. Too many look too comfortable at Westminster and I’m starting to think they would take Home Rule. I have spoken to a few yes voters who are getting to the point where if the SNP don’t act soon they just won’t vote at all, they know that it could cost us a unionist government at Holyrood but they don’t feel anyone represents them any more and I understand that. Johnson’s cabinet looks like the cabinet from hell, bloody hell how much more are we willing to take. If the SNP can’t or won’t take action then maybe it’s time for a YES Scotland party who will.
Crowdfunding enough money to stand a candidate in every Westminster constituency in Scotland is utterly do-able.
So if the SNP go to the next Westminster election on anything but “If we get the majority of Scottish seats, we take Scotland Independent” then I’m not sure they’ll get *any* seats.
I listened to a bit of his speech today, and the questions he took. It was just crazy looking along the front bench at these people. Rees-Mogg, Raab, Johnson. Nutters all.
No one who could escape would want to live under that government. Of course, it may not last for long.
I would love to see her policy to address the DISGRACE that we import two thirds of our cheese. Perhaps every time someone tries to buy a bit of Pecorino, they should be dragged away and force-fed a giant block of Red Leicester?
As a friend of mine once said of someone else with a similar handiness habit, “He must have an octopus in his ancestry somewhere”.
Sorry, totally tangential – the only time I got groped in a cinema was when the guy sitting next me grabbed my thigh in a vice-like grip at a scary bit, because he’d mistaken it for the arm of his seat. So as an invitation to sex it was pretty much a non-starter, I’d say… the best thing about it was how incredibly embarrassed he was, even though I told him to feel free to do it again.
I was behind him. I thought he would make a difference to the Blairite Labour Party, but he has been a disaster at a time when we really needed an opposition.
I can see their point, sort of… they are both truly awful examples of Homo sapiens, but Boris is worse – and when you see your enemy making a mistake, as the saying goes, you shouldn’t interrupt him.
The Scottish Government already declared a climate emergency (not for just now, in general as a response to global warming). I don’t think it’s just hot air (see what I did there); we really are making a strong effort to decarbonize.
I’m staying indoors, even though it’s only 26°C outside according to my weather widget. We are far too feeble and fragile for this kind of thing.
Even better than a fan, I have a cunning little air cooler that works by evaporation – a fan blows air over water-soaked felt thingmies. Cools the air by about 5°C. Works off a USB port. I’d get more cooling effect by turning off the computer, of course, but that would lead to sensory deprivation.
Don’t use the “water-vapour” fan too much unless you disinfect it every couple of days. Spray some dettol in there and leave for 5 mins then run & get out of room for 30 mins.
I got a bitch of a chest infection/lung problem in the 1990s from exactly what you’re using now. Doctor said its a perfect breeding ground for legionnaires disease & all sorts of nasty shit.
Yes, I keep a close eye on that, Vestas, and put it through the dishwasher occasionally. If the bugs survive that they probably deserve to breed in my lungs as they’re obviously a superior life-form.
Seriously, though, I think I’ m OK with that – I’m more concerned about black mould, because it seems to like the water here.
I prepped for this & got the house down to 25C overnight then sealed it up at 6am (windows closed/blinds down etc) and so far its worked OK – 27C in the house, will probably top out at 29-30C at sunset then we rinse/repeat.
Here’s the current top ten from a weather station 2 miles up the road :
36.5°c 25 Jul 2019
35.1°c 01 Jul 2015
34.4°c 25 May 2017
33.6°c 19 Jul 2016
33.6°c 18 Jun 2017
33.4°c 26 Jul 2018
33.0°c 23 Jul 2019
32.9°c 19 Jun 2017
32.6°c 29 Jun 2019
32.4°c 13 Jul 2013
Yes all the bedrooms have ceiling fans (put in after the summer of 2003) and we have an industrial sized floor fan (300w) but they’re of limited benefit – you’re simply moving air at 27C around the rooms 🙂 Feels better when you’re in bed but if you’re walking around it will cause more sweat as you move from a fan area to a non-fan area.
The real killer (and it will be today) is people not understanding that they need to open the windows at night and CLOSE THEM ALL during daylight.
Clouded over a little so we’re back down to 35.5C 🙂
Most of the areas inside the Arctic Circle have been reporting outlier climate reports this year (and the last 5-10). Also large areas of Canada/Russia within the Arctic Circle have been on fire for months.
This is what I meant when I suggested (in another thread) that the “tipping point” had been and gone – positive feedback events. For example the fires in Siberia are estimated to have emitted more CO2 this year than Belgium and the Netherlands put together. Then there’s the methane coming from the permafrost and a host of other things.
I think that, all things considered, there’s a human population of just a billion left alive in a hundred years we’ll have worked miracles. I think its far more likely that everyone within 30degrees of the equator will be dead and 40degrees will be considered barely habitable.
OK, 6+ hours of 35C+ temps is a whole different ballgame to temps peaking mid-afternoon (its still 36.7C). Its been over 30C since 9am…..
I have filled a bath with cold water and after a suitable interval (let it come up to around 30C so I don’t have heart failure due to temp shock) I am going to sit in it.
Greenland will be the new emigration/evacuation zone for (probably) EU citizens in 40-50 years.
On the flip-side where I came from (Lewis) is going to keep rising while most of Britain sinks.
Not a god-botherer myself but given the rock structures (Lewisian Gneiss) are the third oldest on the planet and the rock is rising during what will be an epic man-made climate-induced flood it does make you wonder – when you’re cooking at 36C 😀
Proved wrong immediately:
Alistair Jack promoted from whip to Scottish secretary
Alistair Jack is the new Scottish secretary. He was only elected to parliament two years ago, as MP for Dumfries and Galloway, and he only joined the government as a whip earlier this year. It is very unusual for an MP to make cabinet this quickly. But the Tories only have 13 MPs in Scotland, and so Boris Johnson’s options were limited.
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Never heard of him…
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I think I saw him playing a passenger on On The Buses.
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Ahhhh, that would have been real acting for him. Although he probably has SEEN busses in his life.
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A bit of research will confirm that he looks a formidable opponent of independence.
Come back Fluffy . . .
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Oh yes, a true Brit. That seems to be all that the Tories in Scotland care about now. Their precious union, sod what happens about Brexit.
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I understand the Tories are down to about 10% in the polls here in Scotland. Now I wonder why that could be? No. Not a clue. Utterly beyond me. https://t1p.de/7cptxh
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” However, on the face of it, the Lib Dem vote has increased in Scotland at the expense of unionist parties and not the SNP – which would be the dream scenario. If that pattern holds, we could see the Lib Dems splitting the unionist vote in a way that actually helps the SNP gain seats from the Tories.”
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I’ve always wondered if there’s a law saying Tories have to look like they’ve just licked fermented mackerel on a bed of pickled nettles.
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Not an actual law, just tradition, Iain.
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it’s Alister Jack – no I don’t know anyone who spells it like that either. Anyhoo, he is reckoned to be worth circa £20 million and
“Scottish Tory frontbencher: “Alister is capable but the reason he is so popular with the UK party is because he invites ministers to his country estate. It is not the image we want to project.”
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Ahhhh… Unheard of by the general public but well known among the country set, looking for a bit of fishing, shooting and drinking.
Very much not one of us.
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In that first pic, has Mundell been dyeing his hair? It’s the same colour as one of my cleaning brushes with the brass wire tufts.
Anyway, I discovered I’d been mixing Alister (hah!) Jack’s constituency up with Fluffy’s – Dumfries, Clydesdale and Tweeddale v. Dumfries & Galloway – so as far as I’m concerned, the name has changed by the constituency hasn’t. I hope the good electors of those two constituencies reflect well on what they have done… Anyway, let’s see how Alister (sic) distinguishes himself in office, which is mainly brainwashing us Jockanese and telling us how high to jump.
I deliver up my earnest prayer that he be the last (or possibly penultimate) in a long line of useless and often pernicious secretaries of State for North Britain.
A limited choice for Seccy of State indeed among the dirty baker’s dozen Tory MPs – but not as limited as when Fluffy Mundell was elevated to his position pushing the tea-cart. What a shame he never got a chance to resign, eh?
I am hoping for a very early General Election, i.e., that BoJo fails to survive an imminent vote of no confidence, and that the MacNeil-McEleny plan is made part of the SNP election manifesto.
Please please please let this horrible phony war period be over, and let the negotiations for independence begin.
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Ed since Alister is such a stupid spelling, I propose (totally stolen from the internet) we call him – fanfare
Union Jack.
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Boum boum…
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The thing is that Mundell did have the chance to resign when other people with a bit more backbone announced that they would.
Rory and Hammond and a few others whose names I have forgotten, at least had the courage to do that.
But Fluffy though that Ruth’s plea to allow him to stay would be enough to keep him on his elevated salary and ministerial car.
He didn’t realise that Bojo doesn’t think a lot of Ruth either.
Lesson there, Colonel. You call yourself the “Scottish Conservative leader”, but as far as London is concerned your opinion counts for nothing.
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The whole cabinet pantomime becomes clear when you realise that Johnson’s choices were determined by the lyrics and titles of Stock Aitken Waterman hits of the 90s.
Puzzled why Patel was chosen as Home Secy? – “Together Forever”.
Andrea Leadsom in any role other than shelf stacker? – “I should be so lucky”.
We thought Ross Thompson would be ScottySecy? – “I’d rather Jack”.
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All we need now is Jason Donovan!
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Tris What will it take to get the SNP off their arse. I’m so frustrated now and have been blogging about it for two days. https://grumpyscottishman.wordpress.com/2019/07/24/sick-to-my-stomach/ The gradualist approach is killing independence and they are leaving it too late. Too many look too comfortable at Westminster and I’m starting to think they would take Home Rule. I have spoken to a few yes voters who are getting to the point where if the SNP don’t act soon they just won’t vote at all, they know that it could cost us a unionist government at Holyrood but they don’t feel anyone represents them any more and I understand that. Johnson’s cabinet looks like the cabinet from hell, bloody hell how much more are we willing to take. If the SNP can’t or won’t take action then maybe it’s time for a YES Scotland party who will.
Sent from my iPhone
>
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I can understand the frustration, Bruce.
I’ve understood holding off too, until we knew what the Brits were going to do.
But now it looks plain.
Action very soon.
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There’d better be.
Crowdfunding enough money to stand a candidate in every Westminster constituency in Scotland is utterly do-able.
So if the SNP go to the next Westminster election on anything but “If we get the majority of Scottish seats, we take Scotland Independent” then I’m not sure they’ll get *any* seats.
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Well, you could be right.
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My point of view too. The MacNeil-McEleny plan must be put into the SNP manifesto if there is a general election between now and the end of October.
Independence is an existential question for our country, now more than ever.
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Absolutely tris. I’ve waited nearly seventy years for the day to come, and it will be here very shortly.
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It has to be,Alex.
Looking at the list of cabinet minister,, there’s an awful lotr of people who immediately strike you as …
a) thick
b) hard right wing.
That’s not the country we are.
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Bruce
Well you got my vote
Looking at the most
Régressive cruel and
evil 👿 régime at
Westminster ever.
Leaving this broken
DisUnion is now the only
Option.
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Do you know other unionists who feel the same, Niko?
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Well to be honest the
Yoons i personally know
It’s not a thing you
Would necessarily say
Openly.
If you don’t want to be
Shunned
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Fair enough.
I listened to a bit of his speech today, and the questions he took. It was just crazy looking along the front bench at these people. Rees-Mogg, Raab, Johnson. Nutters all.
No one who could escape would want to live under that government. Of course, it may not last for long.
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Do you live in Larhall?
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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EARTEVVWkAAuzF1?format=jpg&name=small
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Tris, did you have to? I’m glad I wasn’t drinking anything when I clicked that link or I’d have splutted it all over my screen.
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Ooops, sorry, Ed. I keep on being reminded by Munguin to put up warnings when I publish something awful.
Maybe there should just be a general one now…
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Here’s another laugh.
I loved the comment that someone wrote.
I would love to see her policy to address the DISGRACE that we import two thirds of our cheese. Perhaps every time someone tries to buy a bit of Pecorino, they should be dragged away and force-fed a giant block of Red Leicester?
And Britain exports Yorkshire tea to China?
What kind of tube is Truss?
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The stunned expression on Ross Thomson’s face this afternoon is my political highlight of the month.
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Lovely!
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Maybe he should learn to keep his hands to himself?
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I read that that is most unlikely. He has a serial handiness reputation.
And by that I don;t mean that he puts up shelves!
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As a friend of mine once said of someone else with a similar handiness habit, “He must have an octopus in his ancestry somewhere”.
Sorry, totally tangential – the only time I got groped in a cinema was when the guy sitting next me grabbed my thigh in a vice-like grip at a scary bit, because he’d mistaken it for the arm of his seat. So as an invitation to sex it was pretty much a non-starter, I’d say… the best thing about it was how incredibly embarrassed he was, even though I told him to feel free to do it again.
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Midden!
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Not quite sure how to react to that…
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Be proud!
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The problem is as I see it
There are number of Labour
MPs who would prefer Borris
To Jeremy .
That not a thing I say with
A sense of anger more a feeling
Weary resignation to reality.
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You could be right there, Niko.
I was behind him. I thought he would make a difference to the Blairite Labour Party, but he has been a disaster at a time when we really needed an opposition.
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I can see their point, sort of… they are both truly awful examples of Homo sapiens, but Boris is worse – and when you see your enemy making a mistake, as the saying goes, you shouldn’t interrupt him.
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Too hot to get annoyed with these fuckwits, it just went over 35C here so definitely going to be a new record.
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…and it is already.
35.3 breaks the old record by 0.2C. Unless we get thunderstorms it’ll hit 37C by 3-4pm 😦
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The Scottish Government already declared a climate emergency (not for just now, in general as a response to global warming). I don’t think it’s just hot air (see what I did there); we really are making a strong effort to decarbonize.
I’m staying indoors, even though it’s only 26°C outside according to my weather widget. We are far too feeble and fragile for this kind of thing.
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Stay cool. I hope you have a fan.
Drink a lot of water.
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Even better than a fan, I have a cunning little air cooler that works by evaporation – a fan blows air over water-soaked felt thingmies. Cools the air by about 5°C. Works off a USB port. I’d get more cooling effect by turning off the computer, of course, but that would lead to sensory deprivation.
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Good. That sounds sensible.
Stay cool.
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Don’t use the “water-vapour” fan too much unless you disinfect it every couple of days. Spray some dettol in there and leave for 5 mins then run & get out of room for 30 mins.
I got a bitch of a chest infection/lung problem in the 1990s from exactly what you’re using now. Doctor said its a perfect breeding ground for legionnaires disease & all sorts of nasty shit.
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Yes, I keep a close eye on that, Vestas, and put it through the dishwasher occasionally. If the bugs survive that they probably deserve to breed in my lungs as they’re obviously a superior life-form.
Seriously, though, I think I’ m OK with that – I’m more concerned about black mould, because it seems to like the water here.
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Take cold showers and relax. Drink a lot of water too.
That kind of temperature can be dangerous if you’re not used to it… and what person from these islands is?
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It must be at least 22 here lol.
Just be thankful you’re not in Paris…
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36.5C and rising….
I prepped for this & got the house down to 25C overnight then sealed it up at 6am (windows closed/blinds down etc) and so far its worked OK – 27C in the house, will probably top out at 29-30C at sunset then we rinse/repeat.
Here’s the current top ten from a weather station 2 miles up the road :
36.5°c 25 Jul 2019
35.1°c 01 Jul 2015
34.4°c 25 May 2017
33.6°c 19 Jul 2016
33.6°c 18 Jun 2017
33.4°c 26 Jul 2018
33.0°c 23 Jul 2019
32.9°c 19 Jun 2017
32.6°c 29 Jun 2019
32.4°c 13 Jul 2013
I’m sort of getting used to it now….
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Do you have a fan?
At the moment (and our temperatures aren’t as high as yours) my fan is never off.
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Yes all the bedrooms have ceiling fans (put in after the summer of 2003) and we have an industrial sized floor fan (300w) but they’re of limited benefit – you’re simply moving air at 27C around the rooms 🙂 Feels better when you’re in bed but if you’re walking around it will cause more sweat as you move from a fan area to a non-fan area.
The real killer (and it will be today) is people not understanding that they need to open the windows at night and CLOSE THEM ALL during daylight.
Clouded over a little so we’re back down to 35.5C 🙂
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I just came across this – it’s got maps of the temperature anomalies over Europe. Even Iceland is unnaturally warm: https://t1p.de/lgtjvb.
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Most of the areas inside the Arctic Circle have been reporting outlier climate reports this year (and the last 5-10). Also large areas of Canada/Russia within the Arctic Circle have been on fire for months.
This is what I meant when I suggested (in another thread) that the “tipping point” had been and gone – positive feedback events. For example the fires in Siberia are estimated to have emitted more CO2 this year than Belgium and the Netherlands put together. Then there’s the methane coming from the permafrost and a host of other things.
I think that, all things considered, there’s a human population of just a billion left alive in a hundred years we’ll have worked miracles. I think its far more likely that everyone within 30degrees of the equator will be dead and 40degrees will be considered barely habitable.
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Not a “proper” measurement but mercury thermometer at back door (in shade all the time) is now 38C 😦
That’s 100.4F in “old money”.
Bloody hell….
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OK, 6+ hours of 35C+ temps is a whole different ballgame to temps peaking mid-afternoon (its still 36.7C). Its been over 30C since 9am…..
I have filled a bath with cold water and after a suitable interval (let it come up to around 30C so I don’t have heart failure due to temp shock) I am going to sit in it.
I may be some time….
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At least you are going to be VERY clean!
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Have more cold water… 🙂
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The “ideal” apparently is 32-35C for water otherwise there’s adverse effects when you get in/out.
Given the temp of the water coming from kitchen tap is now 25C it won’t take too long to “warm up” 😀
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Well, I hope when Brits try to move to Greenland to escape the heat, they are greeted by busses saying “Go Home”.
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Greenland will be the new emigration/evacuation zone for (probably) EU citizens in 40-50 years.
On the flip-side where I came from (Lewis) is going to keep rising while most of Britain sinks.
Not a god-botherer myself but given the rock structures (Lewisian Gneiss) are the third oldest on the planet and the rock is rising during what will be an epic man-made climate-induced flood it does make you wonder – when you’re cooking at 36C 😀
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