Tips for beating the heat, according to Telegraph readers

Having stayed in Greece many years ago, where few apartments had air conditioning, reader John discovered an easy tip: “Buy a cheap fan and cover yourself with a wet towel. In this country, it’s hardly worth buying an expensive unit when you’ll only use it for a few days per year.”

Nicolle, 33, from the South East, suggest getting “a pet-cooling mat to keep yourself cool and get your pets one too, obviously. They really do work. I also love putting my feet in cool water as it helps to regulate my temperature”.

Some readers have tried their hand at building their own cooling systems. Stephen Wilkinson made his own air conditioner, “using a fan, some copper and rubber tubing, a cool box and a fountain pump”.

“The pump circulates chilled water through the copper tubes which are attached to the front of the fan. Some bottles of frozen water in the cool box provide the fuel and I’ve got more bottles in the freezer, which I rotate in when the first lot have melted,” he explains.

“It cost me £100 all in, most of which went on the copper.”

At night

Night-time heat is a major source of complaint among readers and some share their tips for staying cool in bed below.

Before bed, Pip, 79, from the South East, fills a washing up bowl with one inch of water for her feet.

Then “I place a towel on the bed, have a shower and go to bed wet. I ring out a hand towel, hang it up in the bedroom and spray the carpet and let it evaporate to increase water consumption”.

For Harvinder, 54, from the West Midlands, “I keep curtains closed during the day and put some wet towels in the freezer for half an hour before sleep. I take them out and use them for cooling overnight”.

“Try cooling pillows,” says Elissa, 56, from Yorkshire. “Now that we have them, I love that lovely shock of cold against the neck. Mind you, one does have to flip the pillows all the time,” she adds.

An anonymous reader suggests “taping cheap foil emergency blankets to the outside of windows exposed to the sun. It is extremely effective in blocking out the radiant heat from the sun”.