Editorial

UK Issues First-Ever Extreme Heat Warning, And People’s Reactions Are Hilarious

Screenshot/Twitter/MetOfficeCE

Kay Smythe News and Commentary Writer
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The British Met Office issued the first ever “Red Extreme” heat warning Friday over soaring temperatures in the U.K.

The warning was delivered by Met Office CEO Penny Endersby, who could have easily been cast by Michael Bay for the role. For those of you who don’t know, the U.K. has essentially been in a reverse “Game of Thrones” scenario where we’ve been waiting for summer since some time in the mid-1600s. (RELATED: Heat Wave Worsens Across Western US As States See Triple Digit Temperature)

We are not used to warm weather, at all. That’s why so many of us go on multiple vacations throughout the year. It’s not like British people have never seen the sun before, but the Met Office kind of made us sound like vampires in their warning video.

“Here in the U.K., we’re used to treating a hot spell as a chance to go and play in the sun,” Endersby said, with a big smile, “This is not that sort of weather. Our lifestyles and our infrastructure and not adapted to what is coming.”

The “Red Extreme” heat in the U.K. is going to get up to around 40°C, around 104°F, according to the Met Office. Temperatures like these are fairly common in many parts of the U.S., but have never been seen before in the typically-rainy archipelago over the pond.

Seriously. It rains constantly in the U.K. If it’s not raining, we get that stupid misty thing where the air feels damp, but you don’t realize it until you’re soaked through. It’s absolutely no surprise to me that everyone, including my favorite British Twitter account, won’t shut up about the weather.