I’ve been reading lots over the last little while, on how to stay cool in the current heatwave. This is all the recommendations I have. I’ll follow this up with explanations of each suggestion in another post later — writing this has taken a lot out of me! Links are for example, buy what’s available and fits your needs 🙂

The UK is not set up for heat waves of up to 40c, thousands of people will die, we may have power and water outages.

Things to do immediately

• Buy 10-20l of water from the store. Put it in a cupboard, and forget about it, unless the water goes out
• Buy one or two of these cheap temperature sensors. If you’re feeling fancy, one of these weather stations with multiple nodes is good too
• Charge all your battery banks. If you don’t have any, Anker do some nice ones, grab one or two. If you have a laptop, make sure it’s fully charged, along with any gaming consoles you have. Keep them charged if you use them! Power may fail in a heatwave
• Install the Met Office app (or your local, best, weather app) and configure it for your location. In the UK, make sure you turn notifications on!
• Buy a few fans:
  • Battery powered neck fan with the batteries not in the neck, if you can
  • Any other cheap fan you can plug in, cheapest — bit better
  • USB powered fans you can power off a battery bank — cheapest — bit better
• Buy some dehydration mix from your pharmacy or superstore. Alternatively, electrolyte drinks, or you can buy cheap electrolyte mix in bulk. (This one is used in 1g quantities, so a 500g bag will last a long time!)
• Plan/prepare on checking vulnerable neighbours or family, if possible.
• If you’re disabled or vulnerable in the UK get yourself on the Priority Services Register for your power and water companies
• Familiarize yourself with the medical signs of heat exhaustion and heatstroke. Act to cool down if you have heat exhaustion. Call 999 if you have heat stroke
• If you have a pet, consider getting a gel cooling mat for them. It passively helps them keep cool

Things to do the day before the heatwave

• Turn your fridge and freezer up — make them colder
• Freeze bottles of water (Separately from the immediate water stock!). Old fizzy drink bottles are fine. Squeeze them a little before putting the lid on, to give the water space to expand into
  • For one of the bottles, fill it halfway up, and store in the freezer so you can get to it. When you want a cold drink, just fill it a bit, and shake. Instant cold water!
• If you have south-facing windows, prepare to cover them. A sheet, tin foil, paper.
• Prepare foods ready to eat cold. Tuna mayo, egg mayo for sandwiches, salads, cold meats, cook some beans ready. Consider cooking a pasta bake or similar and putting it entirely into the fridge
• At night, open your windows:
  • If you have a multiple level house, open windows/doors on one side of your house on the bottom floor, and on the top open the windows on the other side — so air will flow in a diagonal
  • If you’re in a flat or bungalow, open the windows/doors on opposite side of the house
• Try to stay at home, or indoors. If your office has air con, I’m jealous. Avoid heavy activity during the day
• Cover any south facing window with tin foil / paper / baking paper / cardboard / sheets. Do this on the outside if at all possible. If you do it on the inside, you might overheat your windows, and break them. _{Expensive bills later!}

During the heatwave

DO NOTs

Do not do any of these things. They will harm you!

• Drink Alcohol
• Drink too much coffee _{(A little to prevent withdrawal is a good idea, but give energy drinks a miss)}
• Use “Air Conditioners” that don’t have an extract hose, that you have to fill with water. _{They use up the indoor air ability to absorb water — and sweating is the main way you lose heat when it’s too hot, so they make you hotter and make fans work less effectively. It’s safe to use them with a window open}
• Use air conditioners with an extract hose out a window without sealing your window with these kits. _{Yes they’re ugly, but without them you’re literally pulling hot air in from outside!}
• Heavy exercise — including manual work — especially during the peak in the afternoon, 1200 – 2000 (12pm to 8pm)
• Avoid cooking using the oven, or hobs whilst windows are closed. If you have to, use the microwave
• Avoid travelling if possible. Trains will be very slow, aircon may fail. Roads may melt

DOs

• An hour after sunrise, or as close as possible, close your windows
  • During the heatwave, check the temperature sensor against the weather app, or your weather station. When the indoor temperature is close to the outdoor temperature, go outside a second to see if it feels cooler outside (in the shade!) than inside. If so, open the windows as recommended above — in a diagonal, or opposite side of your dwelling
• Drink lots of water. One or two electrolyte drinks a day in the absolute peak temperature
• If indoor temp is below outdoor temp, keep the windows closed. Make sure to open them when it’s warmer
• Consider pointing a fan out the window once it’s time to open the windows. Use a tissue or light cloth to work out which way the natural wind is blowing air, and point the fan in the direction to work with the wind, not against it
• Wear light, airy clothes. If you can, stick to 100% cotton, which will wick your sweat and help it evaporate, keeping you cooler
• Wear a hat if you go outside, and remember your sunscreen — even if it’s cloudy
• If you have cats, put out a few bowls of water, spread around the building for them to drink from
• If you have plants, water them before the temperature peak
• Shower with a lukewarm shower. You want the water just a little cool to the touch. Too cold, and you’ll confuse your body, too hot, and you’ll just make it worse
• Freeze a hot water bottle. Wrap it in a towel to cool down
• Wrap an ice pack in a towel, and hold it between your upper thighs. You have arteries there, so will cool your entire body rapidly
• Damp a towel and put it around your neck
• Put your feet in a bucket or large bowl of water
• Don’t use your fans feature to have it change direction it blows air into — oscillation. You want to set up a breeze of air around your room, that’ll effectively multiply how much air is moving without needing too many fans
• Put a bowl of ice in front of a fan
• Damp a sheet, or wet duvet cover before sleeping
• You can set up a fan to blow *into* a duvet cover, effectively inflating it with a constant supply of fresh air. You can use clothes pegs attach it to the fan’s grills

Comment your own tips below!