Is life is better in the sun?

For 12 years whilst living abroad in South Africa and Dubai all we heard was 'at least the sun shines' whenever we dared to complain about anything.

We'd reply with we may be living in the sun but we still have the same things to do everyday, like work, washing, housework, food shopping etc.

And the response would be 'but life is better when the sunshines'

And our response would be 'the grass may look greener, but it's actually spray painted.

'But these hot countries are built for the weather, with air con'

'Nope not in South Africa and in the winter when the temps dropped to below zero, there was no heating either'

'But the sun in Dubai is a dry heat'

No it's not, it's on the bloody coast.

In Dubai from June-September, it was that hot, there was condensation on the outside of the windows. The cold water tap ran at 40c, we'd shower after 10pm or before 9am when it was cooler. The aircon was blowing cold air on you 24/7 and cardigans and socks were worn in the house.

Our air con didn't cool below 28c and opening the front door to get to the car was like stepping into an oven, wearing full winter gear with a hairdryer blowing on your neck.

If you could manage to be outside and the hot sand on the beach, burning your feet even through trainers, you'd get in the sea and it would be 36c. Not refreshing and you'd feel worse.

The air temperature in the summer didn't drop below 36c, so dog walking was done around 4am.

Walking from the front door to the car and from the car into the mall, you'd be dripping in sweat.

My phone was constantly over heating, even sitting in my bag.

But, despite telling you all of this we'd still get 'I'd love some of that sun'

We weren't on holiday, sitting by a pool all day, with room service and air conditioned taxis picking us door to door. 

When the air con in the house broke and also in my car, it was unbearable. Both took a week to get fixed.

Summer temps reached 53c while we were there. The car temps would read up to 57c.

But now you're experiencing several weeks of hot weather, it's clammy, humid and it's making you tired, you're craving cooler temps and even some summer rain.

But for us - we got used to it. We've got 3 large fans on the go around the house, have a covered outdoor area to sit under in the shade. I have a wardrobe full of airy clothing bought in Dubai that keeps me cool and quite frankly I'm fed up of hearing how oppressive this heat wave is, it's topped 34c in some parts of the country, we know it won't last long. 

Just get on with and enjoy it as 'life is always better when the sun shines'

Michael Macintyre explains it.

I do appreciate that there are some people struggling and the effects this heat can have on people's health and how dangerous it can be to certain members of society and you are of course exempt from the above commentary.