Households urged to put bedsheet in fridge before Thursday

There is nothing worse than lying awake in a sweltering bedroom, tossing and turning while the clock ticks closer to your morning alarm. As the heatwave slowly comes to an end, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has extended amber alerts for the South West, South East, London, East and West Midlands and the East of England until 5pm on Thursday, May 28, along with yellow alerts for the North West and North East.

Because British homes are famously built to trap heat in during the winter, a sudden summer heatwave can instantly turn our bedrooms into suffocating saunas. Fans just push warm air around, and leaving the window open often invites in more noise than a cooling breeze.

But before you spend a fortune on expensive cooling mattresses or crank up a noisy air conditioning unit, sleep experts have revealed a brilliant, completely free zero-pence hack that utilises an appliance you already have in your kitchen.

Sammy Margo, sleep expert at Dreams, said: “If you want to sleep better during the hot nights, put your sheets and pillowcases in a plastic bag and stick them in the freezer for a few hours before bed. This can create a cool and refreshing sleeping surface.”

The trick lies in lowering your core temperature to make falling asleep feel easier. Margo explains that “our bodies need a stable internal temperature of around 37°C for optimal melatonin release – the hormone that helps us drift off.” But during aheatwave, this can be hard to achieve, as bedroom temperatures are far away from the ideal range of 16 to 18C.

Margo was quoted in an article by the Sleep Editor of Ideal Home, Amy Lockeood, who confirms this trick works better than any cooling product she had tried. She writes: “Yep, when I want to cool down my sleep set-up *fast*, I pop my sheets and/or my pillowcase into a resealable plastic bag, and put them into the fridge (or even the freezer) to chill them before I climb into bed.”

Beyond the freezer hack, desperate Brits often resort to a mix of traditional and clever DIY methods to beat the night-time heat. Among the most popular is the ice fan trick, where a shallow bowl of ice cubes is placed directly in front of an electric fan to create a makeshift, cooling sea breeze.

Switching out heavy duvets for 100% natural cotton or bamboo sheets is also highly recommended, as synthetic fabrics trap sweat and heat.

Finally, experts suggest taking a lukewarm shower just before bed; while a freezing shower actually shocks the body into generating more internal heat, lukewarm water gently coaxes your core temperature down, priming you perfectly for a blissful night’s sleep.