Heatwave at 26°C in UK. How British shipped ice to India, ran to hills to survive summer heat

The British tabloid The Mirror reported that the UK would be hit by a 48-hour heatwave of 26 degrees Celsius. This left Indians, reeling under a severe heatwave of above 40 degrees Celsius, gobsmacked.

How did the English stay here and rule us for 200 years, asked many on social media platforms.

The British colonised the entire world. They observed the cracks in a regime and used it to their advantage to become rulers of the land. Not much bothered them, except the weather in countries like India. Even today, the British are troubled by even a little heat. As the temperature rose to 26 degrees Celsius, the British Met Desk called it a “heatwave”.

The weather forecast predicted that at the end of June, the temperature might go as high as 30 degrees Celsius. The harshest weather will be seen in these cities: Birmingham, Cardiff, London, Manchester, and Newcastle. The “heatwave” is expected to be seen from June 26 to June 28.

But Indians asking how the British endured the harsh summers to rule them for two centuries is a valid question.

While each country has its own threshold of how much temperature they can endure. The British rule in India had come up with a solution for the harsh summers here: shipping ice and moving to the hilly areas of India.

UK’S HEATWAVE AT 26 DEGREES CELSIUS SHOCKS INDIANS

Indians read the forecasts covered by a Mirror report, and they questioned how the British survived the temperature in India for over 200 years of their rule. Temperatures in India have even crossed 40 degrees this year. An X user, Bhivansam asked, “26° C is the heatwave in the UK. I wonder how they survived in Indian summers for 200 years.”

X user, Madhavi_agarwal added a humorous spin to the forecast, “26 degrees Celsius is declared a heatwave for the UK, but for India, 26 degrees would be an official “let’s-go-out-and-have-chole-bhature” weather.

Another, Kunal Biswas, even tweeted, “26 degree Celsius is a heat wave? We need 40 degree Celsius in India to call it a heat wave, we still do stuff like it’s nothing.”

While people on the internet are finding the weather forecasts humorous, we looked at how the British really survived the summers in India.

THE ICE SHIPPING EMPIRE OF FREDERIC TUDOR

Yes, there was a time when ice was shipped to India.

Sailing frozen water was even a big business across the world. The British officers also moved to the hill stations to beat the summer heat elsewhere in India.

In the annals of the British era in India, Frederic Tudor, a Bostonian entrepreneur, stands out in discussions on the ice trade. The Boston Gazette had even said of Tudor’s first trip: “A ship carrying 80 tons of ice has set sail from this port to Martinique. We hope this venture doesn’t slide into a slippery speculation.”

It did not.

Tudor had cracked how to send ice overseas and make large sums of money from it. In 1833, he had sent his first ship to Calcutta (now Kolkata). It carried 180 tons of ice and Baldwin apples, both from Massachusetts, according to Atlas Obscura.

Four months later, a ship called Tuscany reached Calcutta. People gathered together to look at the tons of ice. Some even asked if this ice grew on a tree.

J H Stocqueler, editor of The Englishman, woke up to excitement about the ice barrels, and he decided to get some ice for himself.

Others even asked that their money be returned after they saw that the ice had melted on their palms.

The ice trade had become successful. It spread to Bombay (now Mumbai) and Madras (now Chennai) as well. Huge icehouses began to be seen in the presidencies of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta.

THE BRITISH SUMMER CAPITALS IN THE HILLS

The British also went to hill stations to steer clear of the harsh summers in India.

Nainital, a prominent British hill station in Kumaon, made from flat land formed by an 1885 landslide, became a favourite retreat for officials seeking relief from India’s hot plains. In 1841, a British sugar trader named P Barron visited Naini Lake, which is the centrepiece of Nainital. He built a house here.

The area around Naini Lake started to garner more British settlers, who built homes, churches, schools, and administrative buildings. The town looked new with British-style architecture and planning.

It became a summer seat of the North-Western Provinces government and also became a centre for education with the establishment of schools and a thriving social life for British officials and their families.

Dalhousie, founded in 1854 by the British, was named after Lord Dalhousie, Governor-General of India, who promoted hill station development across India.

Chosen for its strategic location in Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba district, amid the Dhauladhar range, it offered another station which was a respite from the high temperature spots in India.

However, Shimla had become the British summer capital in India due to its strategic isolation, aided by the Kalka-Shimla Railway, which ensured secure administration away from unrest. It was further developed with essential infrastructure, hosting important government meetings until India’s Independence in 1947.