No sleep

Alarm set for 6am to get the dog a walk before the heat begins. My fan was on & off all night long, noisy and useless, I feel drained. I live in a bungalow so scared to leave the windows open at night. I keep the blinds and windows closed until the evening to keep the heat out. I know I shouldn't complain, but honestly I've had enough.
Records of heat are being broken here in N.Ireland, 32 degrees and we are not used to it at all and I'm a redhead and sitting in the house just in case I fry. It's no longer the Emerald Isle if my lawn is anything to go by, it's crispy beige.

I do sympathise travels, I hope you have a better night tonight. I always feel like a wrung out dish-rag the following day if my sleep is disturbed.

Surprisingly I slept like a log last night. Every window wide open with bug nets on; and three sets of patio doors open - to hell with security, any intruder would have to deal with our dog. If I had found it difficult to sleep I'd go and sleep in the garden on a sun lounger. I did it last year, I slept well and it was lovely being woken by birdsong and the sun coming up.

But during the day I avoid being in the sun, it's cooler indoors or in our summerhouse which is where I am now. The thermometer tells me it's 16C. On the patio it's 24C and in the greenhouse it's a sweltering 43C!!

Sending sympathy to all those who can't sleep, it must be a nightmare, thankfully a rare occurrence for me. I'm struggling with the heat too but seem to sleep really deeply at the moment, read till about midnight, went to the loo 2 or 3 times but straight back to sleep and didn't wake up until 10.30 - even though my DH and DS are working downstairs!

I fill 2 litre lemonade bottles with water, kept in fridge or freezer all day. Pop them into the bed an hour before I pop myself in. The read for a while with one of the bottles under my knees. It also helps to have a flannel in a bowl of iced water next to the bed for use in the night.

Search eBay or Amazon for ' instant cooling cloths'. They are £3 or £4 each. I have several which I wet and squeeze out as per instructions, then lay them over Mt head and body to cool down for sleep ( our house was built in the 60s with large picture windows and the amount of heat gain us utterly unbearable, even with solar film, blinds and blackout curtains). They do work, even though made of polyester. You just flick them to cool them down again. They certainly help me.

Alizarin you and me both. It's a grim day when I get up, shower and hairwash, and by the time I've dried my hair I feel that I need another shower - at just gone seven in the morning. The summer months are a real trial for me, but the rest of the year I love our climate; when it's cold you can add layers and wrap up. When the heat is as stifling as today I just want to cry!

Move to the north of Scotland. It rarely gets too hot here.!!!

Ooh thank you Soroptimum, you reminded me that I have one of those tucked away somewhere. If only I had the energy to search… ?

Juicylucy

Sorry. Sun lover here. Yes I get it’s hard to sleep but I find it funny so many people desperately trying to fly to the sun but they complain about our heat. I’m not saying your ones of those people. After weeks of rain I find it a welcome release, it adds another space to the house being able to sit outside either in the sun or the shade. Typical English weather tho it’s due to rain again next week. ☀️☀️

The difference is that, apart from the Far East, the heat abroad is quite dry. I love that, but I can't take the humid heat we get in this country. And I've just ordered my 2 poor spaniels gel-filled cooling mats from Amazon-they're lying around in panting heaps, bless the,.

bikergran

Would love to sleep with the windows wide open, but with only me being in the house and maybe someone able to climb on the conservatory roof to steal me I'm
afraid its windows on first lock (about half an inch) tut.

Hoping to get to screwfix tomorrow they have some kind of catch that allows the windows to remain open a little wider but doesn't allow it to be opened from the outside any wider (if I'm right)

Bikergran I had 2 insect screens made by a local handyman for one window at the front and one at the back. They attach to the window frame with velcro on the inside, so I can open these 2 windows wide to create a cross draught, and also my cat can't jump out. Then I put on my burglar alarm .....

You could always have insect screens that actually screw into the window frame.

I stopped feeling comfortable sleeping with bedroom windows wide open after one June I woke up to a bat swooping round my bed, and nearly had a heart attack. I then became very jumpy that it would happen again as apparently there's a bat roost not far away (although the local bat society wouldn't divulge where).

I’ve got a meaco fan, which as a sleep mode on it so it blows cool air. I also have a chilled shower just before climbing into bed and don’t forget your hot water bottle can be filled with cold water and put in freezer. But I also have windows open. My problem is ppl somewhere near talking and laughing loud and drinking. I don’t have a problem normal hours etc but this is going on after midnight. Someone shouted last night for them to shut up but it was 2.35 this morning ?

I slept so well last night I slept through alarm this morning. I had bow and stern doors open and a small fan in my cabin. Keep your bedroom cool all day with fan going not just when you go to bed. This really makes a difference at night.

Lots of people have recommended using a hot water bottle, but filled with cold water and chilled in the freezer. My ankle is sore; bursa problem, so as well as cooling my foot down in the daytime, it has proved very useful when trying to sleep. I would thoroughly recommend one, if you haven't tried it yet!

An acquaintance had apparently been sleeping in the garden, which sounds wonderful! Unfortunately our recliner outdoor chairs are down at our caravan in Devon so inaccessible last night. Instead we slept in our reclining armchairs downstairs last night with the patio doors left open, and that was So Much Better!
We are off to the caravan at the weekend, so may possibly do the same on the awning (with the curtains firmly closed). Or, as another poster has said, the caravan is very well insulated so sleeping indoors there will probably be OK.

Well. This hot weather isn’t going to last, so make the most of it.

Every year it’s the same. Moaning that it’s too hot.
I could understand if this weather was all year round.
Although I can’t tolerate too much sun for too long, I really do appreciate the warmth and vitamin D it gives me.
I think the older we are, the less we can tolerate when it comes to heat as obviously not acclimatised.

Lap it up ladies. It’s lovely!! Pretend you are on holiday but without the luxury of air conditioning.

My tips for cooler help . some of which you might have already had. So loose cotton or if you have it silk - great help. Women ditch the bras! They just keep the sweat close to your body hot and sticky. Go early as you can for shopping and take with you bottle of cold water with one of those little freezer blue oblongs that you put in picnic or lunch boxes . Put blue box in plastic bag so it doesnt wet shopping bags but take them in with the shopping bag, so that you have a cold drink whenever you need to stop and can cool your hands and feet with the blue box. While walking outside for shopping or whatever, look and make the effort to walk in the shade - cross the road and keep to the shady side is worth it I think. Keep windows and doors open, with curtains or blinds across so cool air moving but keeping sun out - only when you are home obviously! But I try to stay inside in the cool from as soon after 10 am to about 3 or 4pm. Bare feet again on either freezer blue box or if you have old hot water bottle put very cold water and a couple of ice cubes and again either feet on it or put across wrists and hands. In the evening if you have somewhere to sit out in the shade sit there and stay out until you are almost cold if it cools down so that when you go to bed the bedroom is cooled down by open windows etc and then cool wash or shower and lie on top of sheet - do use cotton or linen sheets . worth the ironing to give you cool surface to sleep on. If you wake up very early , rather than stay in hot room feeling fed up, loose clothes and take fold up chair or whatever outside and sit in the cool and dark. Much better to be sat out enjoying the dark or the dawn and sometimes you might fall asleep. Hope they are helpful ideas and good luck. Oh also have lots of cold water and tonic is quite good cold but a little treat at the moment is to buy some good cherries, wash them and leave them in the fridge overnight. So not to let them be so cold you dont taste them, but it is bliss to eat very cold cherries and if you cant sleep sitting out in the dark and cool and eating cherries is a pleasure and calming and you are less annoyed that you are not sleeping.Best of luck

I can tolerate the hot sun in Europe because it’s dry not humid like it gets here. It drains me of energy and everything is hard work.
I bought a gel mat last year you put in the fridge and place under the bottom sheet at bedtime. It stays cold just long enough for me to have a read and drop off. Best investment ever.

Sorry meant can’t.

No I didn’t. See how the heat affects me

madeleine45 great tips. I like the sitting in the garden eating cold cherries idea .im always up about 5am because of my cat so i am going to try this tomorrow morning.

Thank you, Miss Chataline, I too love the heat (although sometimes the humidity gets a bit much). I detest cold weather and really don’t sleep well when it’s cold. The heat just zonks me out and I sleep far better.

Geekese where do you live? Near the North Pole maybe if it was only 19c. I’ve done all your suggestions already and it was 31c in my bedroom last night. I thought I would expire!!

glammagran

Geekese where do you live? Near the North Pole maybe if it was only 19c. I’ve done all your suggestions already and it was 31c in my bedroom last night. I thought I would expire!!

Daytime temperatures are in the low 30s, and have been for a few days here in the south east. The minimum temperature that night was 19 degrees. Keeping all windows and curtains closed till after dark, then opening all windows and doors to get a through breeze meant that I managed to get my room that cool around midnight when I went to bed.

One big down side of going to bed early on these hot evenings is that it hasn’t really cooled down yet, so you’re trying to fall asleep in the heat.

I love the summer and everything about it! Yes I agree it’s hot at the moment but that won’t last forever. I love the light evenings and having doors and windows open all day. I love the thin clothes. It doesn’t take long to get dressed. It’s not always easy to sleep but best not to dwell on it. It really isn’t a big deal as some seem to think. So much better than anoraks, gloves and boots. Cold weather is so unpleasant and not good for the health and the winter lasts forever. Embrace the beauty of the summer and the chance to lead a more outdoor life seeing people and spending time in the country or on the coast.

I prefer rain/cold than too hotter weather. We've had 3 hot summers and I was dreading this summer was going to turn out the same. It appears that isn't going to be the case.....thankfully. I do like sunny weather of about 24°.