6th Sept: Cooler at last!

The hot weather of June was repeated in July and August. Not quite as hot, but maximum daytime temperatures often above 25ºC and sometimes above 30ºC. Minimum nighttime temperatures were typically above 15ºC and sometimes above 30ºC.  The outside temperatures (blue)  shown in the graph are shade values from the weather station on my jetty over the River Itchen.  The inside temperatures (red) are measured in my study and represent the upper floor of my house where both bedroom and study face south. Downstairs the temperatures were a degree or so cooler.

During the day I kept all the shutters and curtains closed to try to minimise the heating.  Since I normally wake at around 3am I would get up and open windows around the house in the hope of cooling it down.  However air has a very low heat capacity compared to the brick walls so the upstairs inside temperature rarely went below 25ºC and was typically about 27ºC.

During the period we had practically no rainfall and the skies were cloudless, so going outside during the day meant being in full sunshine.  Apart from sitting out on the jetty in the early mornings, I stayed indoors almost all the time and saw more TV than I normally would – thank goodness for YouTube!  Possibly I was put off doing more outside by the constant warnings that the temperatures threatened the health of the very young and the elderly!  In some ways it seemed like a wasted summer.  It would have been so good to have swum in the river but the constant pollution readings put me off doing that.  Being ill during the hot weather would have been even less pleasant.