A social media user has shared a simple European home cooling technique that could help keep the heat out of your home without air conditioning, as the UK continues to swelter in a heatwave with temperatures hitting 36 degrees.
Technique Shared on TikTok
The method was shared on TikTok by BAM_Renovate. In the video, the man describes the initial step: 'As early as possible in the morning, open up all your windows and doors in your home. It will be cooler outside, so you're purging all the hot, stale air from inside your home and inviting the cool, fresh air in.'
He then advises: 'Then you want to lock that air in your home. Shut all your windows and doors. Seems counterintuitive, but when you shut all your windows and doors, you insulate and stop that cool air escaping. When the outside temperature gets hotter than the inside temperature, it will transfer in, or the cool air will flush out. You want to keep that cool air in. Shut all your curtains and blinds if you can, especially if your windows get sunlight, because you're going to try and stop that heat transferring through the window.'
External Shutters and DIY Solutions
He also pointed out that a widespread practice across much of Europe, where numerous properties feature external window shutters, is an even more effective means of preventing hot air from entering the home. 'If you've got curtains on the inside, the Sun's radiation is going to transfer through the glass into your curtain,' he explained. 'That's essentially going to heat the curtain up and create a kind of radiator in your home. But if you can put it on the outside of your house, that heat doesn't get through the glazing, keeping the heat outside.'
He said a light-coloured bed sheet, towel, or flag hung on the outside of the window, not touching the glass, is the 'gold standard' for this approach. He revealed he had tested this using an ice cover for a car windshield, and it 'did a great job'. He further suggested that tin foil could serve the same purpose and is 'a good option', remarking: 'It's gonna radiate and reflect that heat away from your window and not let it in your home.'
Heatwave Forecast
Thursday and Friday are forecast to be the peak days of the current heatwave, though temperatures are set to remain high throughout the weekend. The Met Office stated: 'Saturday could see highs of 34 degrees in south west England and 33 degrees on Sunday, before a gradual trend down.'
Deputy Chief Forecaster Tom Crabtree added: 'It won't be a straightforward end to the warm weather. High pressure is expected to remain in charge through much of next week, but it will gradually migrate northwards. This means that an easterly wind will become established in the south, and the focus for the hottest conditions will migrate towards the south west.'
'As a result, some places that have seen the highest temperatures during recent weeks will begin to cool. It will, however, remain very warm - especially in the south west - and heatwave thresholds may continue to be met in places.' The overall signal is for continued fine, dry, and very warm weather at times for many parts of the UK into next week, with a chance of thunderstorms spreading into parts of the south and south west.
