Please, either share this, or add to it!

I live in Central Texas. It’s been hot here for about a month now. Your temperatures are going to rival the temperatures in the Southern US. It is going to be really tough without AC, which I understand most people do not have.

Stay hydrated. I cannot express this enough, stay hydrated. Coffee and tea and other caffeinated drinks will dehydrate you. Caffeine is a diuretic. Water, gatorade, juice, or herbal tea.

During the day, your house is going to get really hot if you keep the windows open. With them closed, it’s still going to get hot, but your insulation will help, a little. Open the windows at night, to use night air cooling.

You can use ice blocks in front of a fan as a quick “AC”. They won’t last long, but might get you through the worst of it. Either way, fans will help you feel cooler.

If you HAVE to work outside, do it before noon. Stay sheltered from noon until dusk. The hottest part of the day is not noon, it’s usually 3 or 4 PM.

Wet cloths on the back of your neck can help cool you quickly. A run through the sprinkler will help, too.

Try to spend time in a place that does have AC. Library, shopping, hotel rooms, museums and the like.

Your very young and elderly are at particular risk, as they have a harder time regulating their body temperatures. Try to check on them, and help them out.

Know the signs of heat stroke and heat exhaustion. Both heat exhaustion and heat stroke are serious conditions. Heat exhaustion begins with general muscle weakness, sudden excessive sweating, nausea and vomiting, and possible fainting. A heat stroke is when your body’s internal temperature reaches over 103 degrees.

The below comes from Comanche County Memorial Hospital page:

There are many symptoms of a heat stroke. Be mindful if you or someone you know experiences the following while spending large amounts of time outdoors in the summer:

* **Sudden Severe Headache:** It may be a migraine or just “any other headache.”  [Be aware of any sudden headache onset, however](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heat-stroke/symptoms-causes/syc-20353581). If you are spending time in the heat and high humidity, this could be a signal that our body is overheating fast.
* **Unexplained confusion or odd behavior.** If someone suddenly shows signs of [dizziness, confusion or agitation, loss of consciousness or disorientation](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heat-stroke/symptoms-causes/syc-20353581), call 911. These are all beginning signs of a heat stroke.
* **Sudden rush of feeling cold and chills while sweating:** When your body can’t regulate your temperature, it may send chills down your spine, literally. If you’re hot and sweating yet experiencing chills and a feeling of being cold, seek emergency care and take steps to[ cool down your body temperature fast.](https://www.healthline.com/health/heat-stroke-vs-heat-exhaustion#treatment)
* **Alteration in sweating.** [The Mayo Clinic](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heat-stroke/symptoms-causes/syc-20353581) states, “In heatstroke brought on by hot weather, your skin will feel hot and dry to the touch. However, in a heatstroke brought on by strenuous exercise, your skin may feel dry or slightly moist.” Pay attention to your skin and how you feel during strenuous activities while in a warm climate.
* **Racing Heart Rate, Rapid Breathing, Nausea, and vomiting.** You could feel your heart rate increase rapidly without doing any strenuous activity and the culprit is a heat stroke. You may begin to feel sick to your stomach or physically vomit. If you experience any of these signs, it’s your body telling you to cool down, stat.

Do your laundry, run the dishwasher, and anything else that creates heat, either late at night or early, early morning.

Your plants are going to need extra water. Particularly your potted plants. I like to water in the evening, which kicks off the ground cooling for the night.

44 comments

  2. Dallas, Texas has entered the room and endorses the OP. 40C temperatures are liveable when you have AC. Without it – combined with the how British buildings are constructed, ventilated and insulated – it can be fatal. Do check on old folks where you live – they’re at the greatest risk and can rapidly succumb to extreme heat.

  3. Generally solid advice, thanks 🙂

    >Coffee and tea and other caffeinated drinks will dehydrate you.

    This isn’t true, it’s an urban legend. The amount of coffee or tea you would need to drink to have a negative effect is far more than a normal person would drink in a day. If you’re under five cups of tea or coffee, it won’t dehydrate you at all.

    Of course, they’re hot drinks, so on that basis might be a bad idea.

  4. It’s pretty amusing how we get a few hot days and people from around the world are chipping in with their advice on how they deal with it in their countries / states lmao

  5. Thank you for this. The forecast in The Netherlands is that Tuesday night the temperature is not going to get below 27 Celcius. So better keep the windows closed then as well. By Wednesday early morning it is going to cool down a bit to low twenties, so that is the time to open everything up. By Wednesday the temperatures should stay in the low twenties and cool down a bit at night.

  6. I really love this post, and the one that was posted by an Australian.

    It’s really apreciated and very sweet that people all across the pond not only know about our impending heatwave, but care enough to give us some tips on how to deal with this kind of heat we’ve never had before.

    Thanks for the advice! I’m sure some people seeing this will be saved from heat stoke thanks to you.

  7. >”A heat stroke is when your body’s internal temperature reaches over 103 degrees.”

    That’s 39.5 degrees in English , The outdoor temperature might exceed that on tuesday.

  8. Does slight dehydration give you headaches? I wake Up in the morning or when I haven’t drank for a while so I have a large drink of water or juice and I’m fine 30-60 mins later.

  9. Go to an old church. Stone buildings are really good insulators and stay a fairly constant temperature in summer and winter.

  10. Thanks. The only edit I’d make is to point out that our emergency services are 999 not 911 and whatever that temperature you said is in celsius. Most people, especially those under 40, don’t understand fahrenheit. I know I don’t.

  11. Any advice for small pets, like rabbits? We give her plenty of water and put out another bowl of cold icy water if she wants it and she has a lot of space to hide/run around in but still feel sorry for her.

  12. Please send over the DC cheerleaders to help us get through it. And Kitty. Not the other two elder women though.

  14. And everyone thats healthy pretend your on holiday in turkey and get pissed all day like you used to. Kebab on the way home anyone

  15. A few more tips from when I lived in the south of France:

    -Keep an eye on which parts of your house are exposed to the sun and when. Spend your morning in west-facing rooms and your evening in east-facing ones where possible.

    -Dont open the curtains. Just don’t. If you have indoor plants, get a UV lamp for them.

    -Have two water bottles handy. When you refill one, put it in the freezer, and cycle between the two of them like that.

    -In-shower body lotion is a godsend, particularly if it contains menthol. Also, foot cream with menthol can really help if you have to leave the house + wear closed shoes.

  16. Sadly working outside is a mandatory part of my job. My employers advice is “just drink lots of water” but I’ll be out in the sun all afternoon. Planning on lathering myself in sunscreen and wearing a cap and sunglasses but that’s about all I can do.

  17. I have to work outside in the afternoons and evenings. Water and taking small intermittent breaks to cool off a little when possible is all I have to help through.

  21. >You can use ice blocks in front of a fan as a quick “AC”

    Isn’t that only good for dry heat? Wont it just make it more humid in the UK?

  22. British person here, I see your advice and choose to ignore it. I’ll be in the beer garden until Wednesday. Probably feel a bit rough Thursday but it might rain next week, so need to make the most of it.

  23. >but your insulation will help

    Bold of you to assume our houses are insulated.

    Thank you for the advice nonetheless.

  24. Well that might be how you cowboys go about things over there in Hollywood, but here in Blighty, we’re not so easily scared off. I for one will be off for a vindaloo after spending the day in park drinking Carling with me top off, tattoos of British Bulldogs proudly on show. If I get a bit warm I’ll put a baseball cap on at a jaunty angle.

    This is the sort of thing we voted for with Brexit and it’s about bloody time you lefties realised that we were right. If you’d had it your way we’d be stuck in another damp summer, but Boris got it sorted. OVEN READY!

    Now, if you’ll excuse me I need to go see if Job Centre is open or not tomorrow so I can go grab me Giro.

  26. I keep seeing the advice about keeping windows shut most of the time and I don’t doubt you’re all correct but I find it so counterintuitive. In my house at least, opening the windows tends to bring a slight breeze of fresh air, it’s so hard to believe that I’d be more comfortable with them closed.

  27. Today’s 30 degrees has been fine, indoors is feeling cool but driving is rough. Hopefully the next 2 days won’t be much worse! I’ll be going to my gym because they have AC haha

  29. Really touched by your visit to the subreddit to help us out, as well as a similar one from another person familiar with keeping healthy in these conditions.

    You guys have so much on your plate already, so it means a lot that you have taken time out of your day to pass on your experience.

  31. Cannot emphasize how important it is to have both water AND electrolytes, particularly salt and potassium. Sometimes people don’t feel like eating when it’s hot, but a small bit of cheese now and then is an excellent snack. Crackers and cheese may seem salty, but if you’re drinking lots of water, let your body decide how much to pee out (of the salt).

    Also, **one of the early signs of heat exhaustion can be euphoria/feeling as if everything is great.** On a trip through the Mojave in a truck without A/C, my internal temperature got up 100F, but I felt GREAT. I was uncomfortable for hours, and then all of a sudden, I was so happy! I was smiling and waving at people in other cars (I had no water because another person in my party mistook my bottle for his and took it without me noticing). Every year in Death Valley, rangers notice people who are out of their cars for more than the recommended time (they put up signs at the entrances and visitor centers – usually 15 minutes is the maximum a person should be out in 110F temps or higher. In direct sun, the temps are obviously higher (120F when we were in DV one time).

    (Boy, a couple of you are really testy about getting advice from someplace other than your Island(s).

    35,000 people died in 2007 from that heatwave (that includes British deaths). I know others are reading this, not just Brits and there’s heat in many places.

    Stay safe everyone.

  32. > Water, gatorade, juice, or herbal tea.

    Unfortunately we have no alligators to harvest for this “gatorade”, and it’s too late to import them from Florida.

  34. I actually find that as far as regular fans go, the circular type just blow hot air around, but “Tower fans” I am actually finding quite effective if I sit right in front of them.

  37. Out of curiosity,how hot is it? I’m in Scotland and we’re being issued weather warnings for high temps of possibly 31 degrees and 40 degrees in the south east of England. This will probably last 2 days or something but media and government losing their minds over it. Like, calm down, it’ll be back to going cold , wet and grey soon enough.

  39. Make sure to keep your pets as cool as possible. My big lab got warm on his walk last year, first night after hurricane ida, then couldn’t cool off because we had no electric. I couldn’t get him cool enough with cool bath. Ended up with him in our truck, idling and running a/c for about 3 hours, with ice packs in his arm pits. Curtail their walks to just what they need for hygiene an keep fans nearby. Stay hydrated. Cucumber lime, mint and ginger infused water with a little salt is a good refresher and balancer fir hydration.

  40. My last resort trick for working indoors is soak my t shirt in cold water and put it back on. As it drys it keeps you nice and cool.

  41. Someone suggested putting wet towels in the freezer the other day and now my parents are walking round looking like dubai oil moguls.

  42. Seriously, unless you’re very old or struggling medically, these “advice” sections are very dramatic.
    It’s hot out, drink a lot of water and avoid the heat as best you can. Common sense. Oh and don’t read the daily mail, it’s claiming the same appocolpse it did over covid.
    A good amount of Brits have been in 40+ on hols and it’s fine. Just be sensible.

  43. Can you actually buy Gatorade in the Uk?

    I’ve never been to a library in the Uk with aircon – but maybe I’ve just never noticed. Do libraries here have aircon? Damn good idea if they do.

  44. Thank you. It’s so ridiculously hot here and I have a feeling this is going to be the normal every summer. I’m buying air con in winter for next summer. Already feel ill and it’s 31C.

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