Tips to help you cope with the heat

An amber heat health alert has been issued for the south-east, from 12pm Tuesday, 17 June to 9pm Sunday, 22 June. Follow our tips to help you cope with the heat.

• Keep windows that are exposed to the sun closed and screened during the day, and open windows at night when the temperature has dropped.
• Avoid the heat: stay out of the sun between 11am and 3pm.
• Avoid extreme physical exertion during the hot weather. If you can’t avoid strenuous outdoor activity, keep it for cooler parts of the day e.g., early morning or evening.
• Wear light, loose-fitting cotton clothes.
• If you have to go out in the heat, walk in the shade, apply sunscreen and wear a hat and light scarf.
• Don’t leave babies, children, older people, vulnerable people, or pets alone in stationary cars in hot weather.
• Keep rooms cool by using shades or reflective material outside the windows. If this is not possible, use light-coloured curtains and keep them closed (metallic blinds and dark curtains can make the room hotter).
• If possible, move into a cooler room, especially when sleeping.
• Have cool baths or showers and splash yourself with cold water.
• Drink plenty of fluids and avoid excess alcohol.
• If you or others feel unwell, get dizzy, feel weak, anxious or have intense thirst, move to a cool place, rehydrate and cool your body down.
• Check up on friends, relatives, and neighbours who may not be able to look after themselves.
• Keep indoor plants and bowls of water in the house during hot weather: evaporation helps cool the air.
• Stay connected, keep listening to the weather forecast.

Please also be weather aware when you are out  in any of our parks and greenspaces. Do not light BBQs or any type of camp fires, make sure you take any rubbish away with you and be careful of extinguishing any cigarette ends on dry grass. This will help protect not only you and your family but our wildlife too.

For further information on how to keep cool in the heat, visit the NHS website and to keep up-to-date with the weather, the Met Office.