The United Kingdom is now in the midst of its fifth heatwave of the year, a blistering period that has seen record‑breaking temperatures across the country. As the summer heat intensifies, residents are turning to both tried‑and‑true and inventive tactics to keep their homes and themselves cool.

One of the simplest tricks involves a sheet of foil. Bethan Earley of Rugby says she drapes foil blankets over her windows before closing them. "The house does still get warm," she admits, "but it takes much longer to warm up."

In a more unconventional approach, Emma Kent from Hitchin applied a kilogram of yoghurt to the outside of her windows with a paint roller on a scorching June day. The experiment, inspired by research from Loughborough University, produced a noticeable drop in indoor temperature after just ten minutes.

John Turbefield of Chichester layers white bed sheets over the windows in the hottest rooms and uses survival blankets—designed to reflect heat—for the remaining windows. He also freezes two‑litre plastic water bottles and places them in front of and behind the five fans he has scattered around his house. "Large bottles may take a couple of days to freeze," he notes, but the cooling effect is worth the wait.

Health officials from the UK Health Security Agency advise that windows should only be opened when the outside air is cooler than inside, and that non‑essential electronics such as TVs, laptops and chargers should be turned off to reduce heat generation.

Some local councils have identified "cool spaces"—churches, libraries and museums equipped with air conditioning, toilets and water fountains—where residents can escape the heat. When no nearby cool space was available, 31‑year‑old Alice Jenner asked staff at her local M&S for permission to sit in the air‑conditioned store. "The staff were very kind and let me sit by the fitting rooms for about an hour and a half," she says, noting that her medication makes it harder to regulate her body temperature.

For 39‑year‑old Stephanie Reed of Chorley, staying cool is a matter of health. She has epilepsy that can be triggered by extreme heat. At night, she places a wet hand towel on her bed and rests her feet and ankles on it, a simple method that keeps her body temperature regulated throughout the night.

These grassroots solutions illustrate how ordinary households are adapting to an increasingly hot summer, blending science, creativity and community support to stay comfortable.