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UK heatwave exposes unpreparedness: Indian man finds car has no AC, cannot be fitted
🇮🇳 India /Disasters & Emergencies

UK heatwave exposes unpreparedness: Indian man finds car has no AC, cannot be fitted

From Times of India · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Context piece
  • An Indian man in the UK discovered his car lacks air conditioning and cannot be retrofitted due to space constraints.
  • He contrasted the UK's struggle with 33°C heat to Delhi's 45°C temperatures, explaining the difference in preparedness.
  • The UK experienced its hottest June day on record, with temperatures reaching 37.3°C.

An Indian expatriate in the UK has shared his surprising discovery that his car is not equipped with air conditioning and cannot be modified to include it, highlighting the UK's unpreparedness for recent heatwaves. Sharma recounted his mechanic's revelation that his car was manufactured without AC, a concept he found baffling given that even older Indian car models feature the system.

Sharma explained the stark difference between experiencing 33°C in the UK and 45°C in New Delhi. He noted that while his friends in India found his struggles with the UK heat amusing, the lack of widespread AC units and ceiling fans in British homes makes even moderate temperatures challenging. He likened the situation to a power outage in Delhi without backup, emphasizing a general lack of adaptation to extreme heat.

Let me tell you how unprepared the UK was for this heatwave. So I got this car like three months ago. So I didn't use the AC for the first two months and the last two weeks I thought like, it's really hot now, it's finally time to turn the AC on. I turned the AC on, and it wasn't cooling. So as any other normal person would think, I thought maybe the gas has leaked, I need to refill the gas, so I booked it with the mechanic. I gave my car in, I went after one hour, I asked them if the car is okay and the guy said, 'Where do you want me to refill the gas? There's no AC in your car.' I was like, 'What do you mean there's no AC in the car?' He was like, 'Your car was manufactured without AC.' I was like, 'No, that can't be true. Even the Maruti 800 in India had AC, man. That's such an old car.'

— SharmaSharma describes his shock upon learning his car lacked AC and the difficulty of retrofitting it.

His predicament comes as the UK recorded its hottest June day ever, with temperatures soaring to a provisional 37.3°C. An amber warning for extreme heat remained in effect for parts of England. The Met Office anticipates a mixed weather pattern for the upcoming week, with periods of rain and sunshine.

Now I'm stuck with this car in this heat, and you can't even install the AC if it doesn't come with it because there's no space in the bonnet, there's they haven't given enough space. Oh my God

— SharmaSharma expresses his frustration about being unable to install AC in his car due to design limitations.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Times of India in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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