It's been weeks since the last time the house was below 20, aside from briefly in one room due to a portable a/c or the fan on the patio trick first thing... the perks of living in the SE.

The heat, looking at xcweather, has been centred over east London, north Kent, Essex and a bit of Suffolk so far. It's now showing signs of moving away slowly NE'wards, bringing Norfolk into the picture, as the winds finally veer west of south. It's a slow process, mind you, and the MetO raw has temperatures persisting above 30 until 7PM here. It's been spot-on so far today, with a max flitting between 33 and 34, whereas the actual max so far is 33.6.

It was made for me a week ago, unfortunately - I had no say in the matter thanks to the way the practice works! I'd never have gone for a half eleven one if it was up to me, 9 AM on the dot suits me better. The next one is on September 2nd, so expect that to be unfeasibly warm too! 😂

EDIT: Still, could be worse. You can guarantee an accident or three on the roads around here when it's hot (it's not just me that gets zombiefied by the lack of sleep), and so it is - here's the delightful picture in the next village, 2 miles away.

I don't know whether other areas see this on really hot days too, or whether it's a Swale special!

https://ukwct.org.uk/weather/crash.jpg 

So I live on the fourth floor. My balcony and bedroom and both west facing with large glass windows. Unfortunately, their is no through breeze either. New builds are extremely good at keeping the heat in - even during days of 23C-26C the heat builds massively. I do think there needs to be more of a conversation regarding air con in the SE now. What is worse, is the heat take ages to dissipate from the building - so will be a tough few days.

Ugh, my sympathies - as you say, you can see why a/c is popping up everywhere. And for those further north and west - this fate awaits you, in due course.

Might it be worth trying a variant of my patio trick? That involves me putting a window ajar in the living room, then (20 ft away, at the other end of the room), putting a floor-standing fan on the patio, and having it blow into the room... the idea being that cold air is pushed in, and the window being ajar the other end means there's a vent for the hot air to be blown out of. It still works without the window being ajar, but is a bit slower. That supposes that your non-balcony windows can be opened, and that's not a given in newbuilds!

Thank you I will give that a try - I have to do something - cold showers are not a long term solution.

I know it sounds crazy, but August is about the time I start longing for slate grey low level light skies and temps of 0-2C with snow flurries in the air.

Luckily my lounge is North facing so with all doors and windows closed only got up to 26.8C indoors. Will then open all windows and doors once outside drops below inside. Might need a blast or two from the bedroom aircon tonight though as that is  south facing.

Apart from the record breaking at the time August 2020 this equals second hottest August day on the 1st 2013. probably in my top 5 hottest days since 2008.

FWIW, the "patio method" usually gets the indoor temperature to within 3C of the outdoor temperature, based on a windless morning. I then pull the curtains, close the window and door to try and trap the cold air for as long as possible... making what insulation there is work in your favour.

Hopefully it'll work for you too, even if it does look odd having a fan standing on the balcony!

29C in my home office with the doors and windows wide open but feels pleasant enough with a desk fan blowing in my face. 

Looks like 34.8c in Cambridge 

The new builds are awful with fake balcony that you cannot step outside or put washing racks or chairs.  It just a railings in front of the doors so pointless.  Other countries all have proper balconies.

Very poor today and no heatwave yet for this area yet for 2024.  Such a boring restricted heat spike that do nothing.   Hope September I will see first 30C of the year and more widespread and fair for most further north as well than poxy one place in Cambridge where most of the population don't live or use it.

Heathrow and Wisley areas were also around 34C

https://www.weatheronline.co.uk/weather/maps/current?LANG=en&CONT=euro&LAND=UK®ION=0003&SORT=2&UD=0&INT=24&TYP=tmax&ART=kartealle&RUBRIK=akt&DATE=--&CEL=C&SI=mph 

Currently 30.0 (having been 29.9 when I started writing this), dew 21.9. The max was 33.6.

I’ve missed it as I’m in france this week, but I certainly haven’t missed the plume. 36C today here in Southern Burgundy after 35C yesterday.

We have a/c in the bedrooms of our newly converted barn. Trying it for the first time tonight. In terms of heat protection I think the most urgent thing is to plant some shade trees in strategic places to stop the midday sun beating down on the stone walls. 

We are definitely out the other side of the cold front now. 

A lovely evening with clear blue skies and 20.0c now. 25c high under muggy conditions after lunch , then dropped to 19.8c under cloudy skies quite rapidly before rising again to 22c in the late afternoon sunshine. 

Very clear skies with cooler airmass. Good for seeing Meteor Shower tonight.

Had to catch a train from Portsmouth harbour to fareham and it had zero air conditioning.. carriage was 37+  combined with the humidity it was horrendous 

I have memories of numerous daily commutes from  London in the evening on non air con carriages that had sat in the sun all day. Ovens on wheels.

Turned out poor here with a veil of thinnish high cloud from time to time. Gave up at 1.oo am after just 1 meteor and a bit of a reddish glow to the north. I think atmospheric dust is an issue as well since almost a month now with no rain here.