Rare UK heatwave has brands, media rushing out witty responses

By Jessica Davies • July 19, 2016 •

Complaining about the weather is quintessentially British, so it’s no surprise that this week’s unexpected heat wave has been among the most tweeted about topics, with #hottestdayoftheyear trending today.

Social media teams at media outlets and brands have been having some fun with memes and gifs that wallow in the misery of hottest day of the year so far — and that serve as a somewhat welcome respite from the grinding drama of Brexit.

One of the most popular one doing the rounds is from BBC comedy sketch “The Fast Show,” which featured the late Caroline Aherne coining the catchphrase “Scorchio.”

The particular clip was uploaded on YouTube a few days ago and has had 329,438 views so far on YouTube.

BBC Three, the broadcaster’s youth-focused (now online only) channel, chose the moment to take a leaf out of BuzzFeed’s Watermelon-exploding anticipation format for Facebook Live. It streamed a video of three different ice creams: a Solero; a Magnum and a Cornetto, melting in the sun, and asked viewers to guess which one would melt first.

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Others are turning to the hallowed tradition of witty tweets.

Sky Atlantic:

When your boss asks you to work through lunch on the #hottestdayoftheyear. pic.twitter.com/19uPEJJpJC

— Sky Atlantic (@skyatlantic) July 19, 2016

Channel 4’s youth channel E4:

On the bright side Britain, it’s finally hot enough to actually complain about how hot it is. #hottestdayoftheyear pic.twitter.com/kmnsiknE9U

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— E4 (@E4Tweets) July 19, 2016

Footy Accumulators:

Pretty much everyone working this morning… #HottestDayOfTheYear pic.twitter.com/PN2UOV6c4c

— Footy Accumulators (@FootyAccums) July 19, 2016

Digital Spy:

☀ 🔥 ☀ 😎 ☀ 🌋 ☀ pic.twitter.com/kwzCM2k1cV

— Digital Spy (@digitalspy) July 19, 2016

SugarScape:

SEND HELP #hottestdayoftheyear ☀️🌞🔥💦 pic.twitter.com/fI2w4jGQV5

— Sugarscape (@sugarscape) July 19, 2016

Red Magazine:

What we wouldn’t give for… #hottestdayoftheyear pic.twitter.com/lq3X2djU2x

— Red Magazine (@RedMagDaily) July 19, 2016

The Telegraph:

How not to behave in a heatwave https://t.co/3vkpzBGG1Q #hottestdayoftheyear pic.twitter.com/67rWvvDx7M

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) July 19, 2016

Naturally, brands also are jumping on on board.

Online retailer Boohoo.com:

When someone mentions the words 'beer garden' today #hottestdayoftheyear ☀️ pic.twitter.com/7aTXxTa6h0

— boohoo (@boohoo) July 19, 2016

Skoda:

#HottestDayOfTheYear? No problem for our air-conditioned Yeti. You can take your time with that ice cream! #HeatWave pic.twitter.com/7BETKg0aM7

— ŠKODA UK (@SKODAUK) July 19, 2016

XBox:

It’s the #hottestdayoftheyear – be sure to keep hydrated folks 💧👍 pic.twitter.com/MJceURPj1C

— Xbox UK (@xboxuk) July 19, 2016

Zizzi Restaurants:

This weather today got us like… #hottestdayoftheyear pic.twitter.com/qjbq9Drzif

— Zizzi Ristorante (@WeAreZizzi) July 19, 2016

Kopparberg:

#hottestdayoftheyear, meet the coldest drink of the summer pic.twitter.com/hf6fABroai

— Kopparberg UK (@KopparbergUK) July 19, 2016

And of course, the popular @VeryBritishProblems:

How to deal with #heatwave:
Unbutton jacket
Look pained
Moan about it
Occasionally look at sky & shake head
Remember it’ll rain again soon

— VeryBritishProblems (@SoVeryBritish) July 19, 2016