When I was still working from the South China Morning Post’s office in Hong Kong, I fought with my expat colleagues throughout the summer over control of the thermostat.

There were basically two tribes. I generalise here a bit, but essentially the locals wanted it freezing, which admittedly was bad for the environment and rather excessive. The expats, however, wanted it just a few degrees lower than outside, which seemed to defeat the purpose of air conditioning.

When my late boss Simon, who was British, told me he didn’t have air con at home, I was flabbergasted. How could anyone survive without one in Hong Kong, I asked. He gave me a smug look.

Since some of my former colleagues have returned to Europe, especially the United Kingdom, I wonder how they feel about air conditioning now. Western Europe, including the UK, is enveloped in heatwaves this summer. Such extreme, even deadly, climate events are becoming increasingly frequent.