Too hot to sleep ?

1976 was a horrible Summer indeed.
Very hot just now but I can still sleep, my daughter says it is my super power.I take all bedding away and just have a cotton sheet, so cool.

I remember 1976 vividly. I was 18, heading to uni at the end of the summer. I had a temp job in Glasgow so needed to commute every day. I had my first serious boyfriend too. I remember the bitter, metallic smell of the hot trains, the feel of the soft tarmac and how it melted. Cars got stuck. And then when the heat finally broke! The end of summer.

MawtheMerrier yes, I have always lived in N Ireland . I have two children in England, one at the south coast, and they too are finding the heat difficult.
I'm so glad I am here at the minute.

I remember 1976. The day the drought broke was the day the roofers came in to strip and start reroofing our house. DH was overseas (as ever) and I can remember, we had one night with just roofing felt on the house and the rain hammered down all night, and not a drop came through and relaxing and thinking that in the circumstances we had very good roofing contractors.

I've hung a big sheet over our kitchen windows, on the outside. The sun shines on that side in the morning. The sheet keeps far more heat out than the blinds on the inside do!
Yesterday, I did the same with the upstairs windows on that side. It makes a HUGE difference to the indoor temperature!

I would love to do the same to the front windows in the afternoon, when the sun shines on them, but it would be such an eyesore. I'm still tempted though ...

In these temperatures, I leave upstairs windows wide open all night to cool the house as much as possible, but then as soon as it starts to warm up outside in the morning, I close things up. Curtains are closed for the rest of the day and the windows behind them only open an inch or so, to give some of the heat building up behind them a chance to escape.

I remember '76 well (I was 15), along with the ladybirds, and the Drought minister, Denis Howell, or H²Owell, as I remember seeing him referred to by one newspaper.
Happy days!

I get in a shallow tepid bath, let it gently fill with cold water and lie in it for about half an hour until I am shivering.

I then get out, air dry myself. This cools the core of your body right down and I can then usually get 5-6 hours sleep.

I’ve got my fan on a timer so It’s on me till I’ve gone to sleep.

1976 I had two girls and was pregnant, my son was born mid July it was unbearable and I would sit in the shower to cool down.

It's awful trying to sleep in this heat. I escaped to the loft bedroom last night, as with the rooflights open and a fan going it stays relatively comfortable up there. Still a bit sticky though.

I remember the summer of 1976 so well! The heatwave lasted for weeks.

Sorry for those that have problems sleeping, we close all the curtains and doors in the day to stop the house heating up. Opening the windows in the evening, a ceiling fan over the bed running slowly at night keeps us cool.
A dark house in the day is not ideal but it’s better than sweltering.

In 1976 I had a two year old, I don’t remember disliking it, we had standpipes, had to bath in five inches of water, we didn’t have a shower.
The lawn died off, we saved every drop of water for our little veg garden.
But mostly I remember being in tiny sundresses, with my then, young toned, tanned husband and feeling life was good.

only when outside is cooler than inside ie at night

open your loft hatch and a few windows. The hot air will rise up and out through the vents in your loft

nadateturbe

I don't remember 1976. I had three children then. I was probably too exhausted at night for anything to keep me from sleep.
FannyC your the same age as my eldest son!

We’re you in N Ireland at the time? You must have been glad if you were spared that heatwave then! ?

I'm not a good sleeper at the best of times so nothing unusual about being awake in the early hours - what I do hate is then I doze on/off and go into a deep sleep for a short time and wake up with a groggy head!

I watered the garden at six and now faffing around and thinking of breakfast It's already 21C

In 1976 I had a two year old and a four year old. Hot cross children. It was exhausting, but I was young and I coped better then, children and all, than I do now.

It’s cloudy this morning! Don’t think it will last. Still boiling hot, though, but I managed to sleep till 6-ish..

My son was born in August 1976. Used washing up water to water the garden. Minister for Drought, can’t remember who he was. Wonder if they will appoint another one.

?

MissAdventure

Was it 76 when Elvis died?
We were on holiday in cornwall.

August 1977. We were on honeymoon in the Isle of Wight so I definitely remember which year!

Very hot last night, came downstairs and read for an hour where it’s cooler, why is the bedroom always the hottest room?

Insects, two spiders in my granddaughters bedroom this week. Way too early for them, my granddaughter and I are terrified and have to keep waking up my husband who likes an early night.

I'm in a bungalow and won't leave the windows open in case I'm murdered in my sleep.... I have tossed and turned all night long because it's so warm. I'm going to get the dog up and go for a walk.

Who remembers 1976?

Me. I got married that august.

I have a Dyson hot/cold tall fan which works well but I can’t say it’s near silent. Perhaps newer ones are.
In the summer of 1976 we moved to this house which was new but the garden was just rough grass. We tried digging but gave up as the ground was so hard and had to wait until that long summer was finally over.

We are very lucky in that we have a downstairs bedroom. It is lovely and cool so we decamped to that last night. Super eight hours sleep

Night all!

Night night MissA
Hope everyone gets some peaceful kip ?

No, spiders are very timid, in my experience.
I’m not bothered at all about creepy crawlies - in fact I really like them.
Mind you, I was bitten by the most horrendous thing a couple of years ago. It felt like my arm had been electrocuted.
I’ve got a photo somewhere…