Canicule 2

Our second heatwave. Temperatures have been around the 40 degrees mark with almost windless clear blue skies for several days. Yesterday it got up to 39 degrees inside my house and as I type this at around 5.30 am, although it’s 23 degrees outside (forecast 17) it’s still an almost unbearable 32 degrees inside. So I can’t sleep and my electric fans are just moving hot air around.

And there will be no respite for several more days to come. The forecast for today is 42 degrees, Wednesday 37 degrees, Thursday 38 degrees, Friday and Saturday 41 degrees, Sunday 40 degrees and then a slow fall to the mid 30s. It’s almost impossible to do anything, especially outside. I need to paint my shutters but it’s too hot for that and working indoors tiling my kitchen and utility room walls would be unbearable.

Even the insects are suffering. I have thick curtains on my living room doors which I’ve had to pull as the sun has moved round to keep as much heat out as possible but when I’ve been able to open my living room doors to get a bit of air circulating I’ve been getting swarms of insects flying in, presumably attracted by the relative shade.

Two days ago I had a couple of bees flying around the tap on my kitchen sink searching for water and I keep the bowl of water I put out for my doggie visitor topped up as it’s being constantly visited by all manner of flying insects. Large grasshoppers keep coming indoors including giant green ones seeking shade from the hot sun and one little black one which I picked up to throw back outside had the temerity to bite me, which I’ve never come across before.

It’s all a bit too much now and I’ll be glad when it ends, but it looks as though we’ll have to put up with it for at least another week before it subsides.

Back to say…

It’s not long after 8.00 am and there’s been a sudden change! Evidently a cold front has come in, the temperature has dropped and because of the high humidity, we’ve now got thick mist! But it doesn’t matter. The temperature relief is wonderful and I’ve got all my windows and doors wide open with electric fans pulling the cooler air through the house.

My indoor temperature has now dropped to 26 degrees, which is a relief, and it could fall further as it’s cooler than that outside. How long it will last though, is anyone’s guess 😕