The United Kingdom has steadfastly refused to come up with any plan to air condition most residences or reduce energy costs to the point where it wouldn’t be a burden for the people using it. It will, however, use its official state network to report on Britishers breaking down due to “heatwave anxiety.”
In a story published by the BBC last week about how the phenomenon left people they talked to “incredibly helpless” and “pretty much useless,” the broadcaster gave tips on “how to manage it.”
The words “air conditioning” were used just once — referring to an ecologist who purchased a “unit in spring as a precaution.”
Meanwhile, the article was rife with talk about “climate anxiety,” “climate change,” and “climate concerns.”
This included Tavia Watts — whose name would be too on-the-nose in a Pynchon novel if it weren’t real — talking about how, during the heatwave in June, she was thinking about her young children. Not how hot they were in the weather, but how hot it was in their rooms for her.
“During the heatwave, I’ve got a high level of anxiety all the time and I’m pretty much useless,” the 36-year-old said.
“I’ve had to leave bedtime when my husband reads [my kids] stories to have a little cry and to calm down, because it’s just too hot in their room and I’m afraid for them.”
This is a stay-at-home mother who “feels like the world is literally ending” … which is why she had time to talk about it thusly on Instagram.
WARNING: The following post contains vulgar language that some may find offensive.
It’s great to see how the Brits have gone from “stiff upper lip” during the Blitz to “I’ve got a high level of anxiety all the time and I’m pretty much useless” while being a parent during a heatwave.
To be fair, Watts is hardly alone — and it’s thanks to conscious decisions made by Britons.
Psychologist Caroline Hickman blamed “anticipatory anxiety” of heatwaves.
“Once people have been through a traumatic event like a flood or a heatwave, they anticipate the next one,” she said. “[N]ow we’re getting the repeat, repeat, repeat [heatwaves]. It triggers that sense that ‘I can’t be safe in the world, and the world can’t be trusted.’”
Hickman added that among her patients, she “had people saying they’re going to kill themselves, I’ve had people saying they’re going to terminate pregnancies, I’ve had people saying that they want to sell their houses and move somewhere cooler.”
It’s pretty bad when the rational decision is to sell your house and move somewhere that’s slightly cooler. There was also Lizzie Ellen, who was “terrified” when climate change was taught in her school and was now in her home “obsessively” checking her weather app while she dealt with a baby born several months ago.
“With the baby, I’ve been staying indoors more, keeping on top of checking the temperature … so there’s that isolation,” she told the BBC.
“Then there’s the future, which is really scary to be honest — thinking about how the heat we experienced back in June could become a daily reality within a very short time, [my baby’s] lifetime… and that’s pretty miserable, staying indoors all day in the dark.”
Time reported that part of the reason why only 5 percent of houses in the U.K. have air conditioning is that, along with a cooler climate historically, the houses are older and more difficult to install air conditioning in. But it’s not necessarily impossible — until you look at the GOV.UK’s fact check calling claims that “air conditioning is banned in homes” in the U.K. as “incorrect.”
Air conditioning can be installed in both existing and new homes.
In most cases, planning permission is not required to install it for a small home if it would not materially affect the appearance of the building from outside.
However, there is no blanket rule. People should speak with their local council to check the rules, and councils should take a common-sense approach. There are other measures in place to make sure people’s homes are cool.
In other words, there shouldn’t be permission needed — but that’s not necessarily true across the board, so long as it doesn’t affect the outside appearance, which it probably will if you’re retrofitting it, and you should really check anyway.
This isn’t even counting the fact that Britishers already pay almost $2,500 U.S. dollars per year in energy costs, largely due to the fact that natural gas prices have gone sky-high since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the U.K. had outsourced most of its energy production. Whoops.
And the BBC’s tips for beating “heatwave anxiety” are almost as inadvertently hilarious:
Talk to others: There’s often “a huge perception gap between how concerned people are about climate change, and how much they think other people care”, said [psychologist Emma] Lawrance – meaning you might wrongly assume that you’re in the minority, or even that you’re alone.
“Make space to be kind to yourself, to tend to those emotions and know that it’s coming from a place of care for the world,” she added.
Find a community: Lawrance recommended finding a strong social network who care about the same things, and taking positive action together.
Whether it’s planting a garden in your school or putting solar panels on the roof of your business, action can not only help you channel your anxiety into something positive, but can help alleviate the symptoms of anxiety too.
Note the one thing that definitely would stop this that doesn’t get mentioned.
That still hasn’t stopped many Britishers from getting air conditioners, with the BBC estimating earlier this month that the country would soon run out of units.
“Within a few weeks, I think we’re going to see something like we’ve never seen before,” said Nick Burton, who runs an air conditioning firm in Cambridgeshire. “I don’t think there will be many units left in the U.K.”
So, in other words, get ready for a whole lot more “climate anxiety” videos on the socials with virtually nobody recommending fast-tracking mass adoption of the one foolproof way to beat the heat. They’d much rather spend their time tracking down people who post politically incorrect memes instead.
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