An Australian woman living in London has caused a stir after claiming Brits are "soft" about hot weather as heatwaves swept the UK causing widespread disruption. A "number of long-standing temperature records" were either "provisionally broken or equalled" in June as heatwaves swept the country, with millions of Brits put under rare amber and red Met Office warnings for extreme heat, the national weather agency said. A red heat health alert was also issued by the UK Health Security Agency over fears about the strain on medical services as temperatures rose as high as 37.3C in Suffolk. The sweltering temperatures led to sleepless nights, school closures, and issues across the UK transport network.
Australian's comments ignite debate
Taila Batiste, an Aussie currently living in Battersea in London's south-west, questioned the scale of the response. In a TikTok clip, Ms Batiste drew comparisons to the scorching conditions people and the services they use have to withstand Down Under. The video, posted in late June with the caption "Brits are a bit soft, I think," quickly went viral, racking up over 450,000 views on the platform.
In the video, she said: "I'm just on the train in London during a heatwave, and they have reduced services because of the heat, because it's getting to 33C, 34C this week. So the next few days there are less trains, and they are advising you not to travel unless it's completely essential." She also noted that schools were closing early due to the heat. "Can you imagine in Australia if we got sent home, or half day, or couldn't get to and from work because of the heat? My God, the whole economy would shut down."
Brits hit back in droves
The video prompted a flurry of angry responses from Brits struggling in the heat. One wrote: "Girl, my classroom today was 37 degrees. I had no aircon, 30 kids and old infrastructure that's designed to retain heat. Please, sit this one out." A second added: "It's called being acclimatised; we are not used to these kinds of temperatures in the UK." A third said: "If you're in London, you should know then that the buildings and trains aren't equipped to deal with the heat." A fourth hit back with: "In Australia you have this fantastic thing called air conditioning and buildings that aren't built to insulate heat."
National media attention in Australia
The furore her comments caused even picked up national media attention in Australia, with Ms Batiste interviewed by news website news.com.au. Speaking to the outlet, she said the backlash her comments unleashed were "up there with the most hate" she had ever received. "I'm being called uneducated because I'm simply saying that in Australia, life would go on as normal," she said. "Meanwhile, schools and public transport are shut down, and the city is on red alert in London if it hits 30 degrees. They were getting so defensive and angry — probably because they're hot." She added: "I have rage-baited the whole of England."
Temperatures in parts of Australia regularly exceed 40C in the summer, but as it's common they generally have better cooling infrastructure to deal with it in the country's major cities compared to Europe.
