From damp bed sheets and sleeping outside to freezing a hot water bottle: Sweaty Britons share ingenious ways to get some precious hours of shuteye as UK swelters in 95F heatwave
- Temperatures soared to 95F (35C) in London today as heatwave continues
- Britain is experiencing one of its longest hot spells since summer of 1976
- Some are turning to inventive methods to keep themselves cool at night
The UK is experiencing one of its longest hot spells since the scorching summer of 1976 – and the lingering heat is proving unbearable for some.
Thousands of Britons are struggling to get a good nights sleep as temperatures refuse to drop below 70F (21C) at night for most of the south and midlands.
So to cope with the uncomfortable bedtime warmth, some inventive homeowners have taken to social media to show their creative ways to keep cool.
Robin Barnwell shared a picture of a huge block of ice that he had mounted in front of an electric fan. The fan blows cool air off the ice and is believed to help lower the room temperature.
Thousands of Britons are struggling to get a good nights sleep as temperatures refuse to drop below 70F (21C) at night. Some, like Robin Barnwell, have set up homemade cooling systems to try to keep out the heat
Juliet Philips said she and her flatmate were opting for the ‘low carbon’ option of putting their feet into buckets of cold water
‘Will my experiement with a block of ice and a fan work to cool the room? Current temp 23.7C,’ he added.
Juliet Philips said she and her flatmate were opting for the ‘low carbon’ option of putting their feet into buckets of cold water.
‘Not sure how well it would go down in the office environment,’ she jokingly added.
Another popular idea among desperate Brits is creating ‘frozen’ hot water bottles by filling them with cold water and sticking them in the freezer.
Another popular idea among desperate Brits is creating ‘frozen’ hot water bottles by filling them with cold water and sticking them in the freezer
The UK is experiencing one of its longest hot spells since the scorching summer of 1976 – and the lingering heat is proving unbearable for some
Holly Baleen was short of a regular hot water bottle and so decided to improvise with plastic Sprite bottles. But her idea proved successful, commenting that ‘it was still half frozen this morning’ after a night in bed.
And it appears celebrities have been struggling in the heat as well, with Susannah Constantine revealing she has been sleeping outside because her house is ‘too hot’.
The What Not To Wear star, 58, took to her Instagram over the weekend to post a picture of herself with a makeshift bed in her sprawling 127-acre garden in West Sussex.
In the snap, Susannah could be seen tucked under several quilts and duvets, which probably didn’t help with the heat.
And on Good Morning Britain, Kate Garraway revealed her secret tip to avoid a sleepless night.
When she and co-host Adil Ray were asked for advice, Kate said: ‘I tried the whole dipping your bed sheet in water, it does work a bit but then you get too chilly.’
ITV’s Dr Sarah Jarvis then suggested having a cool shower before bed and backed using a cold hot water bottle.
She however issued a warning that people should not put ice directly onto skin because it can cause ice burns.
Celebrity Susannah Constantine has revealed that she has been sleeping outside during the UK heatwave as her house is ‘too hot’