Staying cool during a heatwave can be difficult (stock image) (Image: Getty)
Britain is facing another spell of intense heat, with temperatures expected to climb as high as 36C in some places today, Thursday. The Met Office has said parts of the UK may reach 35C to 36C both today and tomorrow, with the heat likely to linger into the weekend. As the hot conditions continue, many households will be searching for practical ways to stay comfortable and keep indoor temperatures down.
Fans and air conditioning units have been in high demand, while plenty of people are turning to simple DIY methods to block out the worst of the heat. One social media user has now shared an easy approach to keeping homes cooler — a technique that may be familiar to anyone who has spent time in Europe. The advice was shared on TikTok by BAM_Renovate.
Describing the first step, the man in the video said the aim is to take advantage of the coolest part of the day. He explained: “As early as possible in the morning, open up all your windows and doors in your home. It will be cooler outside, so you’re purging all the hot, stale air from inside your home and inviting the cool, fresh air in.
“Then you want to lock that air in your home. Shut all your windows and doors. Seems counterintuitive, but when you shut all your windows and doors, you insulate and stop that cool air escaping.
“When the outside temperature gets hotter than the inside temperature, it will transfer in, or the cool air will flush out. You want to keep that cool air in. Shut all your curtains and blinds if you can, especially if your windows get sunlight, because you’re going to try and stop that heat transferring through the window.”
He also pointed to a method widely used across parts of Europe, where many properties are fitted with exterior shutters, saying it can be even more effective at stopping heat from entering. “If you’ve got curtains on the inside, the Sun’s radiation is going to transfer through the glass into your curtain,” he said.
“That’s essentially going to heat the curtain up and create a kind of radiator in your home. But if you can put it on the outside of your house, that heat doesn’t get through the glazing, keeping the heat outside.
“Top tip for this one, if you can get a light-coloured bed sheet or towel and hang it on the outside of your window – or an England flag, because of the World Cup – on the outside of your window, spaced off the glass, so it’s not touching the glass, that’s a gold standard.”
He said he had tried this with an ice cover for a car windshield, and it “did a great job”. He added using tin foil to do the same job is “a good option”, saying: “It’s gonna radiate and reflect that heat away from your window and not let it in your home.”
When will the heatwave end?
Thursday and Friday are expected to be the hottest days of the current heatwave, although it is likely to be hot over the weekend as well. The Met Office said: “Saturday could see highs of 34 degrees in south west England and 33 degrees on Sunday, before a gradual trend down.”
Deputy Chief Forecaster Tom Crabtree added: “It won’t be a straightforward end to the warm weather. High pressure is expected to remain in charge through much of next week, but it will gradually migrate northwards. This means that an easterly wind will become established in the south, and the focus for the hottest conditions will migrate towards the south west.
“As a result, some places that have seen the highest temperatures during recent weeks will begin to cool. It will, however, remain very warm – especially in the south west – and heatwave thresholds may continue to be met in places. The overall signal is for continued fine, dry, and very warm weather at times for many parts of the UK into next week. There is, however, a chance of thunderstorms spreading into parts of the south and south west.”
