Brits branded 'weak' by Americans for 26C being described as 'heatwave'

The great British public has been branded 'weak' by Americans for describing 26C as a 'heatwave'. While 26C to us Brits may indeed feel like a heatwave since the weather in the UK is so changeable, it would seem people living in the US would say otherwise.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, one user called Kirawontmiss wrote: "LMFAOOOO British people are so weak man." The post was in response to an article written by the Mirror about an upcoming '48 hour-long 26C heatwave'.

Kirawontmiss accompanied their words with a screenshot of what 26 degrees Celsius equals in Fahrenheit (F) - a metric the majority of Americans use. It shows 26C being the same as 78.8F.

It didn't take long for the post to capture mass attention. Xkhyamix replied: "Calling 78.8 Fahrenheit a heatwave is a disgrace to Americans." Yoxics argued: "That's like an everyday thing in the us

Suayrez asked: "On which planet is there a 26⁰ heat wave?" Royal_bobby24 penned: "26 degrees is a pleasant summer day in America bro." LurkinTomGaming wrote: "78 F is not a heatwave."

However, NakeemHere was quick to point out: "26°C in the UK and 26°C in the USA feel completely different. The UK has extremely high humidity, which makes it feel much worse. And the US has low humidity, which makes it feel much better. I've been to both countries, and the difference is significant."

TitusR768462 hit back: "Umm, no, it’s not that “they’re weak” it’s because their systems/infrastructure (including nonexistent ACs) aren’t set up for these types of heat waves."

Richardhyland commented: "Until you’ve experienced British heat you can’t comment. Most people who say this have a different opinion once they’ve experienced it directly. We tend to be very humid when it’s hot and very well-insulated houses with no air conditioning (because we don’t need to 99% of the year)."

According to the Met Office's latest forecast for the end of June (Friday, June 21 - Sunday, June 30) the weather across the UK is likely to remain changeable. But, temperatures are set to rise above average.

"Following a couple of days of largely fine and settled weather, a gradual transition to more changeable conditions from the Atlantic is likely to take place with periods of cloud, rain and stronger winds most often affecting the west and northwest. There remains a small chance of an area of heavy, thundery rain affecting parts of the south on Friday 21st, possibly accompanied by briefly hot and humid conditions," it said.

"Into the last week of June, changeable conditions are likely to remain dominant, with the focus for these conditions continuing to be across the north and west, with spells of more settled and drier conditions likely in the south and east. Nationwide, temperatures are expected to be close to or slightly above average."