Keeping cool in a heatwave without air conditioning

Why UK homes cope so badly with heat

British housing is engineered to hold warmth in — insulation, small windows, dense brick — which is exactly wrong for a heatwave. Bedrooms under a sun-soaked roof can run several degrees hotter than outside well into the night. That's why the UK feels 30°C harder than holiday destinations do: the buildings, not the people.

The good news is that the effective responses are mostly free and mostly about timing, not equipment.

The daily routine that works

Run the house like a Mediterranean one. Through the day: curtains and blinds closed on whichever side the sun is hitting, windows closed while it's hotter outside than in. From late evening to early morning: open everything that's safe to open and let the cool air flush the heat out — a fan in a window moving air through helps enormously.

External shade beats internal: awnings, shutters or even a sheet pegged outside a sun-facing window stop heat before the glass. Inside, pale curtains reflect better than dark ones. And switch off what you're not using — ovens, consoles and even TVs are small heaters.

Cooling people, not rooms

The fastest wins cool your body directly: cool showers, cold water on wrists and neck, damp cloths, light loose clothing, and drinking regularly before you feel thirsty — the NHS's core advice. Avoid alcohol in the heat of the day; it dehydrates.

A fan is the best pound-per-degree device in the house — it works by helping sweat evaporate. One caution from UKHSA: in extreme heat (air hotter than about 35°C), a fan blowing hot air over you can add heat rather than remove it — at that point it's shade, water and cool rooms.

Plan the day around the sun: stay out of it between 11am and 3pm when UV and heat peak, and shift exercise, gardening and errands to early morning or evening.

The alerts to watch, and who to check on

In England, UKHSA and the Met Office run the Weather-Health Alerting System through the summer: yellow, amber and red heat-health alerts that signal when heat becomes a health risk rather than just discomfort. A red alert means significant risk to life even for the healthy — treat it like the weather warning it is.

Heat kills quietly, and mostly people over 75, people with heart and breathing conditions, and people who live alone. The single most valuable thing on this page: check daily on any older neighbour or relative during an amber or red alert — a phone call, a jug of water, curtains closed by 9am.

Sleep, pets and cars

For sleep: cool the bedroom late evening with through-draughts, thin cotton bedding, a fan with a bottle of frozen water in front of it for a poor man's aircon, and if the bedroom won't cool, sleep downstairs — the coolest room wins, not the usual one.

Never leave children or pets in parked cars, even briefly with windows cracked — cabin temperatures climb lethally within minutes. Walk dogs early or late; if the pavement is too hot for your hand, it's too hot for paws.