After a brief respite of rainy, windy conditions, the hot weather is set to return for several parts of England this weekend.
The Met Office is forecasting highs of 26C possible in some parts of England like London and the south east on Saturday, before temperatures drop back down on Sunday. With British homes built to survive the winter – focused on trapping heat in rather than letting it out – it’s possible to overheat your house very quickly even in 26C conditions, which can be a problem for the very young and the very old.
The NHS, for example, sets out that babies and toddlers need temperatures of between 16C and 20C indoors and any higher than this is unsafe. But when the heat hits 26C outside, it’s very easy for a room to quickly exceed that safe limit.
The NHS and the Lullaby Trust says: “A room temperature of 16–20⁰C is ideal for your baby, when growing up in the UK. This feels quite cold to a lot of people, so using a room thermometer can help check the temperature.”
And experts at British Gas have shared one way to cool down a room which involves opening your window and hanging a sheet in it.
This is a sort of DIY air conditioning which involves using a wet sheet and pushing air through it to take the moisture into the room and cool the air.
British Gas says in its advice on cooling down a house: “Hanging a wet sheet in front of an open window cools the warm air as it enters your home, and is a great way to cool down your home without a fan.
“While they’re not the most expensive appliance to run, using a fan is still likely to impact your fuel bills – but there are some things you can do to get the most out of the energy you’re paying for.
“To really cool down a room with a fan, place a deep dish of ice in the front of it to whip up the water mist and chill the breeze.
“You can also point a box fan out of an open window in the evenings – this pushes the hot air out instead of just blowing it around the room.”
The Met Office forecast for Saturday says: “Showery rain, heavy at times, moves east across northern areas, turning drier later. Elsewhere, mainly dry with sunny spells developing. Rather breezy. Feeling warm in the east and southeast.”
