How to Cope with a Heatwave…

It would appear that we are having a heatwave. It’s been rather warm of late, and since we’re used to the standard British summer (rain), some of us are struggling to continue business as usual.

Here are some handy (and some not so handy) tips for coping with a heatwave…

• Keep all curtains closed, and windows open. This will keep the sun from shining into your home, but should let a little air through.
• Sleep with windows and curtains open. Keeping curtains closed can mean that what little breeze there is doesn’t get into the room. By opening the windows once you go to bed, you can let air circulate. Also leave all doors open to let air circulate.
• Complain that it’s “too hot” and it’s “just unbearable” to anyone you speak to – even complete strangers!
• Hold the inside of your wrists under cold running water. This cools your blood and does actually work.
• Soak your feet in cold water too; this can help to cool you down.
• If you have a loft in your home, open the hatch. Remember from school: hot air rises! Opening the loft hatch should allow hot air to escape into the loft.
• Go and get plastic surgery in Toronto to stop you from sweating. It might not make you feel cooler, but at least you might be less moist all the time!
• Avoid extra sources of heat. Even light bulbs can add to the heat in a room! Eat salad or other cold foods rather than using the hob or the oven.
• Stay hydrated. It’s easy to forget to drink water, even when it’s hot – but when you’re sweating lots (it’s not just me, right?) you need to replace that liquid. It’s also important to remember that we need to replace elctrolytes as well as liquids when we’re sweating a lot – so adding a little pink himalayan salt to your water can help.
• Avoid eating too much protein – the meat sweats are real! Eating too much protein can increase metabolic heat – so you end up sweating more.
• Take a cold shower. This can really help last thing at night before you go to bed. If you avoid using a towel and allow the water to air dry on your skin it should help you to cool down too.
• Put pillow cases in the fridge during the day so that they’re refreshing and cool at bedtime.
• Sit outside in the evenings. During the day, it’s probably cooler inside – or at least sitting in the shade. In the evenings as the sun starts to go down, it’s cooler to sit outside and can help you to cool down ready for bed.
• Complain! Moan to everyone about how hot it is; compare horror stories of trying to get your kids to bed; moan about shops that don’t have aircon. It’s the British way.
• Use cotton bedding. Polyester and other synthetic materials will make you sweat.
• Fill a hot water bottle and put it in the freezer, then use it to cool your bed at bedtime.
• Use the Egyptian method: make a towel or sheet wet, and use that as a blanket.
• Avoid drinking too much alcohol or caffeine. Yes, it’s nice to enjoy a drink in a pub garden; but both alcohol and caffeine are diuretics, which means you will just get more dehydrated and feel rubbish.
• Hang a wet sheet over your window; the breeze and the water will help to cool the room.
• Wonder aloud at least fifty times per day how people who live in proper hot countries manage to survive without killing each other.