From my Substack diary for Thursday, 25th. June 2026

One lesson I must jot down here in my diary for my own future reference is this: in a heatwave get as much work as you can done in the morning. In recent days I have felt increasingly uncomfortable through the afternoons – and evenings are a complete washout; my eyes are too sore and tired to even watch a film, let alone dry the dishes I washed earlier. The heat of days has infiltrated even those cool parts of the home that are a refuge when there is the odd day or two of hot weather; those cool parts that you have worked so hard to keep cool through intelligent use of windows, doors and blinds or curtains. The second law of thermodynamics cannot be kept at bay for very long.

I have a grocery delivery at 10am and I shall be very glad of it. I am also very glad to know that there are resilient workers out there going about their jobs in this weather that, even before retirement, would have floored me. Mind you, my son, who has recently taken up a job in the NHS, is working in an air-conditioned office, which is more common these days than in my day. Yesterday I briefly entertained notions of getting on a bus to camp out in his office! I would have plumped for the 13 bus as that is one of the new electric ones – with air conditioning. And very nice they are too.

I was planning to visit town this afternoon but the heatwave has continued for longer than was expected a week ago. Sunday will be the first ‘normal’ day in a week. As I write that I am thinking that we will continue to enjoy ‘normal’ weather days for one or two decades hence. The heatwaves, thunderstorms, persistent weeks of continuous heavy rain and persistent weeks of continuous drought will gradually become longer and gradually become more intense, but ‘normal’ days will still exist. That is something positive for me to cling onto, but also no doubt for those who do not believe in science to endorse their weird conviction that anthropogenic climate change is not real.