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.
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
— 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#hottestdayoftheyearpic.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
More in Media
Media Briefing: Ad spend rebounds in Q2, but publishers brace for a murky second half
Publishers are dealing with some tariff jitters from their advertisers, and while Q2 is faring well, planning for the rest of the year is murkier.
The winners and losers of Google’s AI Mode
Google’s rollout of AI Mode has rattled publishers. Who stands to gain, and what else is threatened by Google’s integration of AI in search?
LinkedIn courts creators — and advertisers — with new performance metrics
Creators and advertisers are encouraged by new LinkedIn metrics that make it easier to measure clicks and conversions.