Hot weather warning for the UK - Member questions and heatwave feedback

Wiebke said:
Close the windows now as it is starting to be hotter outside than indoors to keep indoors as cool as possible for as long as you can. You open the windows again once it is cooler outside than indoors.

All the best. The sun will unfortunately heat up the room quickly when it comes fully on it. If needed, move your piggies out of the room until the direct sun has moved off again in case the heat in the room climbs into the higher twenties and you have a cooler space elsewhere.
Click to expand...
Thank you, I’ll shut them all now.

Theres nowhere non south facing to move them to but they’re down on the floor so a little cooler than the main reading. The highest on their cage thermometer was 22.9 yesterday.

It’s stressful.
 
I’ve been out with my dog to the vets and just back and the pig room is now 24. Even with lots of my heat measures.
I’m off to grab their ice pods now so they have the option of those if they need them.

To be fair the pigs seems to manage ok. Myself and the dogs however now so much! I really dislike the heat and absolutely am not made for it. Last time we had a heat wave I was stealing the dogs cool mat! Haha.

Hope everyone and everypig are doing ok. X
 
Spaniel said:
Thank you, I’ll shut them all now.

Theres nowhere non south facing to move them to but they’re down on the floor so a little cooler than the main reading. The highest on their cage thermometer was 22.9 yesterday.

It’s stressful.
Click to expand...

That is a very great temperature! It doesn't matter so much if the heat in the room is a little higher with every passing day as your piggies (unless they are very ill or frail) will adapt to it gradually. Houses will heat up and nights will become warmer and warmer the longer a heat wave lasts.

The big risk of fatalities is going from normal room/outside night temperatures to over 30 C or even 40 C due to full sun or leaving the windows open for a strong hot breeze that carries the heat of the sun into shadows and indoors; so you are a very long way still from that. Please take a deep breath - your measures now will help you to keep things more comfortable for a few days longer than you would otherwise; especially as the London area won't get much of a respite this week. :(
The other measures like cooling elements of whichever sort, access to water that is still cool and drinkable, or even a dampened sheet between a fan and the cage can help to cool the air and the body additionall whenever your piggies feel start feeling hot in termperatures around 25 C or more.

If they are not plastered to them, they are doing fine as they are and you need not worry. It's just for yourself as well as your piggies that you are the happier the cooler your place is in the first place and for your wallet the less necessary any more energy consuming measures become. ;)
 
My upstairs windows are staying open only because I'm having to keep my front door open and the air movement is helpful on both storeys. Stupid fire alarm. I've just pulled their beds out for the washing machine anyway and I've chucked their Snugglesafes in the freezer for a bit. Fresh jug of water in the fridge too.

This sort of weather is a massive migraine trigger for me, and I've been lucky so far, but it feels like I've got the beginning of an aura coming on and that's the last thing I need.
 
Lorcan said:
My upstairs windows are staying open only because I'm having to keep my front door open and the air movement is helpful on both storeys. Stupid fire alarm. I've just pulled their beds out for the washing machine anyway and I've chucked their Snugglesafes in the freezer for a bit. Fresh jug of water in the fridge too.

This sort of weather is a massive migraine trigger for me, and I've been lucky so far, but it feels like I've got the beginning of an aura coming on and that's the last thing I need.
Click to expand...

HUGS

Would a luke warm shower help to cool you down just a bit (not too cold because that kick-starts your internal heating system)?
 
Wiebke said:
HUGS

Would a luke warm shower help to cool you down just a bit (not too cold because that kick-starts your internal heating system)?
Click to expand...

It might, but it also might cause issues with the heat upstairs. Not from the shower itself, just from having the hot water on. There's pipes from the bathroom that run through the pigs room - seems the bathroom was shrunk some years ago to make room for the second bedroom but the pipes are still there. I have a large tube of Deep Freeze I can use and a spare icepack in the freezer, but the pain doesn't start til the aura stops. Well, most of the time. And unfortunately there's no way to treat an aura.
 
Lorcan said:
It might, but it also might cause issues with the heat upstairs. Not from the shower itself, just from having the hot water on. There's pipes from the bathroom that run through the pigs room - seems the bathroom was shrunk some years ago to make room for the second bedroom but the pipes are still there. I have a large tube of Deep Freeze I can use and a spare icepack in the freezer, but the pain doesn't start til the aura stops. Well, most of the time. And unfortunately there's no way to treat an aura.
Click to expand...

All the best! I've had (thankfully only) the odd migraine myself.
 
I had my first one when I was about 8, then spent most of my childhood being told they weren't migraines and to stop acting like they were, because I don't get the exact same symptoms from them as one of my parents does. I can't take most painkillers so it's a matter of managing them when they happen, painkillers as an absolute last resort.

Having to empty the fly spray can every 5 minutes isn't helping, as you might imagine lol. I don't mind. As long as the goblins are okay, then I'll deal.
 
Lorcan said:
I had my first one when I was about 8, then spent most of my childhood being told they weren't migraines and to stop acting like they were, because I don't get the exact same symptoms from them as one of my parents does. I can't take most painkillers so it's a matter of managing them when they happen, painkillers as an absolute last resort.

Having to empty the fly spray can every 5 minutes isn't helping, as you might imagine lol. I don't mind. As long as the goblins are okay, then I'll deal.
Click to expand...

HUGS
 
Just wanted to bump this as I was going to make a thread on it and saw Wiebke beat me to it. We have an amber warning for extreme heat over the weekend. Keep yourself, your family and piggies safe. I was in the zone for the warning last year and it wasn't fun.
Screenshot_20220711-151509.webp
(Sorry to hijack your thread Wiebke).
 
How’s everyone getting on?

We’re at 22.9 cage thermometer and 23.5 room thermometer.

Weather app says it’s 28 outside but there’s no sun, it’s cloudy and the window glass doesn’t feel warm. Tempted to open the windows soon but not sure..
 
Spaniel said:
How’s everyone getting on?

We’re at 22.9 cage thermometer and 23.5 room thermometer.

Weather app says it’s 28 outside but there’s no sun, it’s cloudy and the window glass doesn’t feel warm. Tempted to open the windows soon but not sure..
Click to expand...

If it is still quite noticeably hotter outside, I would wait; especially as it is nice and cool in the room.

I am still on 24 C here. The sun has just made a return; but without the thin cloud starting to move in during the afternoon just capping temperatures here, too, I would have likely been up towards 25 C in the piggy lounge (with my computer as an additional heat source). That is only 2 C up from this morning, so I am very pleased.
 
Pigs room was at 23.3C last I checked. It was 23.9C earlier - not a significant drop but not a bad one.
 
Lorcan said:
Pigs room was at 23.3C last I checked. It was 23.9C earlier - not a significant drop but not a bad one.
Click to expand...
You are doing very well!

I have yet to wait for being able to open any windows as we get the full evening sun on the other side of the lounge and it is still too warm outside...
 
Wiebke said:
You are doing very well!

I have yet to wait for being able to open any windows as we get the full evening sun on the other side of the lounge and it is still too warm outside...
Click to expand...

I'm lucky though, even with a solely south facing house - there's 3 rooms upstairs, and one doesn't have windows. The blinds in the goblins room have been closed all day (and for a few days now because it's not worth opening them), and I have the blinds in the other room and the door to it closed too. It's a lot harder for heat to move around that way. They're not quite blackout blinds but they are close.

Then too my PC is downstairs, so it's not adding to the heat upstairs. The minute I go upstairs though the heat starts to rise just because there's another body in the room. And as always there's the water pipes issue. Running the shower or the bath itself isn't too bad though, the extractor fan works well, but it all adds to the heat.
 
It’s roasting upstairs. Got to 26. Unfortunately my husband was working up there all day and so his high powered laptop and monitor as well as him have severely added to the heat. Plus he funnily enough doesn’t want to work in the far so won’t let me close the curtains in that room!

For the first time ever I saw the pigs using the ice packs in their cage. So they must be feeling it a little. I refreshed their water bottles and bowls through the day with refrigerated water which they enjoyed too.
 
Lavinia said:
It’s roasting upstairs. Got to 26. Unfortunately my husband was working up there all day and so his high powered laptop and monitor as well as him have severely added to the heat. Plus he funnily enough doesn’t want to work in the far so won’t let me close the curtains in that room!

For the first time ever I saw the pigs using the ice packs in their cage. So they must be feeling it a little. I refreshed their water bottles and bowls through the day with refrigerated water which they enjoyed too.
Click to expand...
our room is also getting up to the high twenties, its so hard to keep it from creeping up and we can’t get much air flow to cool down overnight. windows are open all night then towels up on windows as soon as the sun shines on them and door / windows shut when outside is feeling hot. i feel absolutely horrible in this heat so i really do feel for our fur babies😔 its so stressful
 
The last couple of days I haven't been able to get the temperature to go below 24C day or night. and believe it or not the piggy room is the coolest part of my flat. Yesterday afternoon it went up to 27.5 and this morning it's 26.5 already. I've got the windows wide open at the moment but I close them and pull the curtains across well before the sun comes round (room faces north west) Strangely the piggies seem to be perfectly happy at the moment - theyre coping much better than me! But I'm dreading next weekend.
 
We finished yesterday on 23.8 (room thermometer) and 23 (cage thermometer)

It’s barely gone down overnight though even with the windows open.

There’s no sun today here and the temperature is the same inside and out so we’ve got the windows open because at least there’s the smallest bit of air movement. Hope that’s the right thing to do? The temperature is due to stay the same through the day.

The pigs had fridge cooled snugglesafe pads overnight for the first time in a long time. They’re doing generally well coping although Perry is starting to get a little grumpy now!

Ice pod and cool tile back in so hopefully they are comfortable enough.
 
I looked at weather predictions for next week and says 31c
I'm already doing every option possible so no idea what I will do then
 
Spaniel said:
We finished yesterday on 23.8 (room thermometer) and 23 (cage thermometer)

It’s barely gone down overnight though even with the windows open.

There’s no sun today here and the temperature is the same inside and out so we’ve got the windows open because at least there’s the smallest bit of air movement. Hope that’s the right thing to do? The temperature is due to stay the same through the day.

The pigs had fridge cooled snugglesafe pads overnight for the first time in a long time. They’re doing generally well coping although Perry is starting to get a little grumpy now!

Ice pod and cool tile back in so hopefully they are comfortable enough.
Click to expand...
I’ve done the same today as there is cloud cover and a nice breeze.
Still blooming hot but feels a bit more bearable than yesterday.
 
breakawayfromme said:
I looked at weather predictions for next week and says 31c
I'm already doing every option possible so no idea what I will do then
Click to expand...
Piggies can adapt however I'm not sure how long it takes for them to tolerate hotter temps. I've been preparing mine since last year as we were in the amber zone then and didn't think it would be a one off. My pigs are quite comfy at 28°C and can often be found snuggled asleep in fleece tunnels. (Downside is as soon as it hits 18°C they're cold.) So far I've managed to get away with just opening/closing windows and curtains. Next week is going to get up to 33 so I'll probably pop in some damp towels, tiles and frozen bottles.

Are your piggies indoors or out?
 
Engel said:
Piggies can adapt however I'm not sure how long it takes for them to tolerate hotter temps. I've been preparing mine since last year as we were in the amber zone then and didn't think it would be a one off. My pigs are quite comfy at 28°C and can often be found snuggled asleep in fleece tunnels. (Downside is as soon as it hits 18°C they're cold.) So far I've managed to get away with just opening/closing windows and curtains. Next week is going to get up to 33 so I'll probably pop in some damp towels, tiles and frozen bottles.

Are your piggies indoors or out?
Click to expand...
currently indoors but they havent semed to bothered to be honest yet so just hoping it wont be to bad next week
 
I take it all back. Just had to spend 90 minutes doing a cage clean out, finished at a room temp of 24C. They're coping better than I am.
 
Being the probable idiot that I am, I've been pretty unsuccessful at getting sheets or towels to hang over the windows so I'm opting for the next best thing...kindof.
I'm going to put foil shiny side out over the window (or those windscreen reflector things) to try to reflect some of the heat back out. It works for cars so it's got to at least do something. I dont normally worry too much about the pig room but Sunday and Mondays temps aren't a joke and I'm taking no chances.

It may only succeed in making me look stupid to the neighbours but it's worth a shot 🤣
 
LondonLady said:
The last couple of days I haven't been able to get the temperature to go below 24C day or night. and believe it or not the piggy room is the coolest part of my flat. Yesterday afternoon it went up to 27.5 and this morning it's 26.5 already. I've got the windows wide open at the moment but I close them and pull the curtains across well before the sun comes round (room faces north west) Strangely the piggies seem to be perfectly happy at the moment - theyre coping much better than me! But I'm dreading next weekend.
Click to expand...

As long as temperatures are fairly stable, your piggies will accustom gradually to the higher temperatures; like they do in Asian countries. You will find that your piggies adapt to a degree in prolonged heatwaves, as does your own body.

It is the sudden major jumps to well over 30-40 C and the open windows in the heat of the day (especially with a fan on them) that are the killers. Just give your piggies the extra coolth from a frozen bottle to nestle against whenever they really need it, refreshed water bottles (or left with some crushed ice mixed in and sock over them for insulation if you are out all day) and pulling the curtains on the sunny side (or any side that is affected while you are out). Lack of night time cooling is a major problem; especially in urban areas because each hot day will build on top of that.

So far, your room temperatures are not yet in a range that is cause for major concern although you want to step in with cooling measures. So well done on you!
 
We have no window covering on our upstairs landing or bathroom windows (just voiles). So I have ordered some temporary blackout blinds from 'Blinds in a Box'. They are paper and reusable if you keep the cover for the adhesive strip. You cut them to size and they are easily removed by heating the adhesive strip with a hairdryer. They seem to be good value and free next day delivery is included.
 
Does it matter how thick sheets are to hang over windows? Would a duvet cover be ok? Also, is any light colour ok or is white best?

Hope these aren’t silly questions!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top