British Gas urges households to use tea towels on Friday

British Gas is urging households to use tea towels this Friday to help stay cool as temperatures of up to 30C are forecast.

Yellow heat health alerts have been issued for the East Midlands, East of England, London and South East England from 3pm on Wednesday until 8pm on Monday, with the Met Office warning temperatures in the South East could reach heatwave criteria by the weekend. The national forecast said dry, bright and sunny weather is expected in southern and eastern areas this week, with temperatures expected to steadily climb, reaching the high 20Cs fairly widely.

Friday is forecast to be the peak of the heat for parts of the South East, with temperatures potentially reaching the low 30Cs, which is well above average for this time of the year.

With temperatures on the rise, British Gas has issued fresh advice this month on how to quickly cool down when conditions turn warm and humid – and it simply involves using a tea towel.

The energy supplier recommends getting an ice pack, wrapping this up inside a tea towel and then placing this on pulse points on your wrist, neck or ankles, as this can help to quickly reduce your body temperature.

The tea towel will help protect your skin from ice burns and hold the ice pack in place. And if you don’t have an ice pack, you can simply soak the tea towel in a bit of cold water and apply it directly to your skin for an instant cool down, or fill a hot water bottle with cool water and use the tea towel to secure it.

British Gas said: “During the day, try using an icepack, chilled hot water bottle or cold cloth on your wrists and feet for an instant cold hit. Watch out for ice burns, though, so wrap them in a towel to help protect the skin.”

This tip is backed by the Royal Meteorological Society, which also suggests taking a cool shower before bed to lower your core temperature, helping you to drift off to sleep more easily when the weather is warm.

In its guidance, it says: “Running cold water over your wrists, neck, or ankles can help reduce your body temperature slightly. It’s not a cure-all, but it’s a quick, easy and refreshing way to cool down when you’re overheating. A cool shower is more effective.”

Both the Met Office and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) have warned that conditions will be very warm, with high humidity, which means some uncomfortably hot nights are on the cards this week, particularly on Friday.

Jonathan Vautrey, meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “By Friday there is potential for 30C across parts of south-eastern England.

“The exact detail of the temperatures is going to be dependent on cloud amounts, because, whilst it is going to be warmer this coming week, there’s actually going to be a reasonable amount of cloud around at times as well – so it’s not going to be sort of wall to wall sunshine every day.

“But those temperatures are going to be rising nonetheless and with that, it’s also going to be increasingly humid this time around.

“So I think people will certainly be noticing how muggy it starts to feel during the second half of this weekend, and some quite uncomfortable nights for sleeping well, with overnight temperatures in the high teens across south-eastern areas of England.”