Staying cool - water your patio! Any other hot weather tips?

[SomeKindOfFloppyWeirdo]

I’ve just chucked a couple of jugs of water over my patio and I’m now basking in the slight reduction in temperature I learned this abroad and I don’t know if many people do it here, so just in case in helps anyone - water your patio! (Might also work on gravel and perhaps grass too?) The evaporation brings down the air temp so if you wet the patio and open windows/door on that side, you get a slightly cooler breeze coming in, and it makes it vaguely bearable to sit outside (over the wet patch).

Also the cat loves lying on the damp patio if he gets too hot inside.

If you’ve lived to/been in any properly hot countries, what else works for keeping you cool? I mean, my toes are sweating I’m not ok 😂

My Aussie family swear by cold, damp towels. Even to sleep under.

Don that sounds heavenly right now! I slept in a damp t shirt last night and slept really well. Might adopt that year-round actually as I’m always a sweaty mess at night!

I’ve fished one of the ice blocks that came with my Gousto box out of the freezer and wrapped it in a towel to take to bed with me the last few nights. Goes back in the freezer in the morning.

@DonLewis

My Aussie family swear by cold, damp towels. Even to sleep under.

I do this, its heavenly

Defo the cold towels. I put them on our feet at night. Bliss.

Ice packs in a bowl in front of my fans are working beautifully in my living room right now, only been there about an hour (saw the tip on another thread) but it's noticeably cooler in here and sitting in the direct airflow is bliss

Meant to say, I do the patio thing when I'm sitting in the garden and it definitely helps.

If you have a loft hatch, open it.

Become nocturnal

In Madrid they have a building which has a waterfall running off the roof it works well Cannot find it on Google. As a kid and with my kids had a fine mist spray to run through to keep cool

I got in the paddling pool in a t shirt and pants. When I got out rather than drying off I wandered round for an hour in the wet clothes. Was beautifully cool.

Eat fruit with lots of water content - watermelon, melon, grapes etc - cold from the fridge if you can. Staying hydrated helps your body regulate your temperature.

Stick your feet in cold water -the paddling pool, even a bucket with cold water. You can add ice cubes... it will cool you right down.

Sounds daft but find the coolest spot in your house / garden and spend as long as possible there. Being hot all the time is tough on your body - help it by giving it a break.