Wimps.

It's a heatwave..

...but I've been there 30 times or so.
At least a third was in summer months.
Those folks have seen 80s plenty of times.
This is just a bit early.
I think 80s are more late July/August.
This was almost all in the London & Manchester areas.
Don't know about coastal cities. Only been to Liverpool twice, once in the winter, once in the fall.
Don't know about summer, there.

I was born and raised in the UK, coastal cities are much warmer..

It's the extended cabin fever.
First day Chicago opened the lakefront for exercise and walking, people went nuts.
Lightfoot closed it again that evening.
People are jonesing to get out, I think, too.

So if the air is still it would be oppressive

to be a major heatwave? Seriously, I know that the weather is most times crappy there, having lived in northern Europe for a few years, but 86 doesn't even rate turning on the A/C in So Cal.

No AC except in department stores. The lower priced hotels I stayed in didn't either

ETA---in 89, I spent a few days in Florence. I found it really hot. Many restaurants had super large goblets in their windows, filled with ice*. A coca cola bottle stood next to it. Pretty expensive, but obviously appealing to American tourists

*Or maybe cubes of glass---ice would melt pretty fast

I have my a/c on 24/7 these days here in So Pasadena. Some people are very sensitive to heat. Once it's above 80, it's too damn hot for me.

to go to a place that crowded on a good day!

Oh my - even without COVID, I would not want to be anywhere near that mass of people.

That's just insane.

that many people? I realize I'm an introvert but that looks like the least relaxing day ever.

It was challenge enough to do some medium-heavy gardening today. The idea of a tortuous car journey to share a beach with hordes of sweaty unruly others at the best of times, let alone right now, carrying and passing on heaven knows what, is not at all appealing. I'm glad they're at the other end of the country.

...Western Scotland has nicer, less crowded coastline than your average Southern England retirement town anyway!

including pure white coral in some places, for those who're willing to brave the sometimes bracing weather (and midgies if the weather's not so bracing).


Toscaig, Applecross Peninsula, Wester Ross


Claigan Beach, Dunvegan, Isle of Skye

On the southwest coast, the Ayrshire beaches can get packed.

We did have some overcrowding on Scottish beaches during the recent brief hot spell, especially Portobello beach on the Edinburgh coast, but nothing on the scale of Bournemouth (not that many places can cope with nearly half a million crowding into them at any one time, coronavirus or no coronavirus).

I wonder how the ferries have been to those places during lockdown?

There have been various stories of would-be travellers being turned back, and some evidence of attempts to stow away, e.g.:

but for a very long time I was willing to think that humanity in general was constantly learning and improving. The Trump years, especially the last few weeks, have made me reconsider that.

get my mail and packages and they had the doors open. I found it stifling. I have no desire in this weather to leave my air-conditioned apartment, especially to be on a packed beach like that during a pandemic.

Then again, I can't stand it when it goes much above 75. However, I know that very few Europeans have air-conditioning, so I can see how they would be drawn to the beach to cool down.

I know it's not very economically or environmentally friendly, but I am completely miserable without it in this weather. I just have a little portable unit and it's not that high powered, but it does the trick and I only have to cool down one fairly small room.

I can't take the heat either. 50s and 60s are nice comfortable temps!

Lots of people heading out to sunbathe are being VERY inconsiderate about more than just the risk of Coronavirus.

Link to tweet

They are not short of beaches.

some beaches might be too polluted or maybe not enough sand and too rocky or something else that makes it less appealing for people .

English seaside towns generally boomed before WWII and since then have generally declined and/or become retirement towns.

The advent of the package holiday to warmer places like Spain from the 1960's onwards had a severe impact on these places. But now people have had to cancel their Spanish siestas this appears to be the result.

I was there when it was really hot some years ago.

their soft drinks tasted flat and they thought 'with ice' meant one or 2 cubes. and places didn't have ac.

factors of internet communication, the march of equaity, climate change and mass migration, etc, behind it but also the same malignant human agents.