When I was living in Southampton (2005-2009), it cost me £200 a month just to keep one room reasonably heated in a cold snap like this.

I installed a curtain in a doorway and did all sorts of things to the windows. I also discovered a massive mold problem in the coldest room one day, with the condensation water literally streaming down the wall behind a book case.

I tended to become sleepy in all sorts of places because they were so much warmer.

(In Amsterdam, I paid around 300 euro a month in cold weather, but I was striving for Floridian temperatures at the time. I was very bad for the planet back then.)

Tens of thousands of people have been dying in England for years already, each winter, because of their inability to keep their homes heated. Far more than in countries with cold climates.

To suggest that this would be a new phenomenon is incorrect.

England has a structural inequality problem and the last political party to start remedying this is the Conservative Party. They won’t.

It’s easy for well-to-do men to tell women in poverty to lower the heating. Their blood vessels don’t shut down in their extremities, unlike women’s, and well-nourished people can bear cold better.

But still, lowering the temperature in your home lowers blood flow to the brain, too, and can make you function less well.

Tip for builders. Construct bathrooms at the center of homes. To combine the highest levels of moisture in the air with the greatest temperature differences (cold exterior walls) is not smart. You can still vent the bathroom.

We continue to build stupid homes. Massive insulation is not the answer. It can also create ice boxes and ovens.

Besides, what good is double glazing if cold air can come in through cracks under windowsills etc? It may “tick” the box for the energy certificate, sure, but what relationship do energy certificates have with actual reality?

Build with nature. Learn from nature. (never mind)