Cupboard · What you keep · 12 min read
Heatwave: the calm plan for a very hot week
Close blinds and curtains on windows in direct sun, keep windows shut while it is hotter outside than in, and open them when the air cools at night (UKHSA Beat the heat, checked 29 August 2026). Drink regularly, check on anyone over 65, and never leave people or animals in a parked car.
First, the calm bit
A hot week is not an emergency for most households. It is a week of small adjustments: shutting curtains in the morning, moving the washing-up to the evening, drinking fluids regularly through the day, and knocking on a neighbour’s door.
Nothing on this page costs money. The whole of the official advice is about shade, timing and water, and most of it you can start doing in the next ten minutes.
The people who get into trouble in hot weather are usually the ones nobody checked on. That is the part worth remembering.
What the heat alerts actually mean
Two different systems run in hot weather, and they are easy to muddle.
The first is the Heat-Health Alert, issued jointly by the UK Health Security Agency and the Met Office. It gives “early warning when adverse temperatures are likely to impact on the health and wellbeing of the population” (GOV.UK, checked 29 August 2026). It runs from 1 June to 30 September, and it covers England.
| Colour | What UKHSA says it means |
|---|---|
| Green | “no alert is issued as the conditions are likely to have minimal impact on health” |
| Yellow | Alerts that “cover a range of situations”, often heat affecting vulnerable people, or lower forecast confidence |
| Amber | “weather impacts are likely to be felt across the whole health service, with potential for the whole population to be at risk” |
| Red | “a red alert indicates significant risk to life for even the healthy population” |
Those alerts are “aimed at professionals within the health and social care sector, those who have a role in responding to hot weather, and are freely available to be accessed by the public” (GOV.UK, checked 29 August 2026). So an amber alert on the news is not aimed at you personally. It is a signal to hospitals and councils, and a useful nudge for the rest of us.
The second system is the Met Office’s own weather warning. Extreme heat is one of the eight weather types it warns on, alongside rain, thunderstorms, wind, snow, lightning, ice and fog. An amber Met Office warning means “there is an increased likelihood of impacts from severe weather, which could potentially disrupt your plans”, and a red means “dangerous weather is expected” (Met Office, checked 29 August 2026). The two systems are designed to sit alongside each other, and amber and red heat-health alerts may be issued in conjunction with matching extreme heat warnings.
If you want the alerts on your phone before they reach the news, the alerts guide has the ten-minute sign-up list.
How do you keep a house cool without air conditioning?
Most UK homes are built to hold heat in, which is wonderful in February and unhelpful in July. The official checklist is short.
- Close blinds and curtains on windows exposed to direct sunlight during the day, and close external shutters or shades if you have them.
- Shade or cover windows from outside where you can. Growing plants outside can provide shade.
- Open windows only when the air feels cooler outside than inside, for example at night, and only if it is safe to do so.
- Fans, with one caveat. UKHSA’s wording is to “use electric fans if the air temperature is below 35°C, but do not aim the fan directly at your body as this can lead to dehydration”.
- Check that your heating is turned off. Timers and hot water schedules quietly add heat to the house.
- Turn off lights and electrical equipment that are not in use, and consider cooking at cooler times of the day.
- Move to a cooler part of the house, especially for sleeping if possible.
All of the above is UKHSA’s Beat the heat guidance, checked 29 August 2026. The rhythm is simple: closed and dark by day, open and airy at night.
If your house never gets cool, UKHSA suggests going somewhere that is. Places of worship, local libraries and supermarkets are all named in the official advice, and none of them charge you to sit down for an hour.
Drinking enough without thinking about it
UKHSA puts it in two sentences: “Drink fluids regularly throughout the day especially if you are physically active. You should drink enough that your pee is a pale straw colour” (checked 30 August 2026). Pale straw is a more useful check than counting glasses.
Two things are worth knowing about what you drink. “Fruit juice, smoothies and soft drinks can be high in sugar which dehydrates the body”, and alcohol has a dehydrating effect, so UKHSA advises limiting it in hot weather.
Water from the tap is free and does the job. If a jug in the fridge makes people drink more, that is a reasonable use of the fridge.
Who is most at risk in hot weather?
UKHSA’s list of people at higher risk includes older people aged 65 and over, babies and young children aged 5 and under, and pregnant women (checked 29 August 2026). It also includes people with underlying health conditions such as heart problems, breathing problems, dementia, diabetes, kidney disease, Parkinson’s and mobility problems, people taking certain medications, people with serious mental health problems, and people experiencing homelessness.
Read that list again and think of three names. That is your job in a hot week: a phone call, a knock, a bottle of water left on a doorstep.
The government’s preparedness guidance asks households to make a plan to check in on neighbours in an emergency (GOV.UK Prepare, checked 29 August 2026). Hot weather is exactly the kind of quiet emergency where that matters and nobody rings 999.
Medicines that need somewhere cool
“Some medications need to be stored below 25°C or in the fridge” (UKHSA, checked 29 August 2026), and a British living room in a heatwave can sit above that for days.
The official checklist puts it plainly: check medicines can be stored according to the instructions on the packaging. That instruction is printed on the box or the leaflet, so it takes a minute to read.
We are not going to tell you what to do with your medicines. If the storage temperature on the box worries you, your pharmacist will tell you for free, and they are used to the question in July.
Never in a car, not even for two minutes
UKHSA’s advice is to never leave vulnerable people or pets unattended in stationary vehicles, because the inside of a parked car becomes dangerously hot very quickly (checked 29 August 2026).
There is no version of this that is fine. Not with a window cracked, not in the shade, not while you nip in for milk.
Getting through the night
Sleep is the thing people find hardest in a hot spell, and the fix is mostly timing.
Keep the house shut and shaded all day so there is less heat to lose. Then open windows when the outside air is genuinely cooler, get some airflow through the house, and sleep in the coolest room you have, even if that means a mattress on a downstairs floor.
If you use a fan overnight, remember the 35°C rule above. A cool shower before bed and a lighter duvet do more than most gadgets.
Heat exhaustion and heatstroke
The NHS describes heat exhaustion as tiredness, dizziness, headache, feeling sick or being sick, excessive sweating, skin becoming pale and clammy, cramps in the arms, legs and stomach, a high temperature, being very thirsty and feeling irritable (NHS, checked 29 August 2026).
The NHS says to cool the person down in four steps: move them to a cool place; remove all unnecessary clothing like a jacket or socks; give them plenty of water to drink, or an isotonic sports drink or oral rehydration powder; and cool their skin by spraying or sponging them with cool water and fanning them, with cold packs wrapped in a cloth under the armpits or on the neck. “They should start to cool down and feel better within 30 minutes.”
The NHS adds one instruction that is easy to miss, and it is the important one: “Stay with them until they’re better.” It also says to call 999 if they are still unwell after 30 minutes of resting in a cool place, being cooled and drinking fluids (NHS, checked 30 August 2026). Thirty minutes is the point at which watching becomes phoning.
Heatstroke is the serious one and it is a 999 call. The NHS lists a very high temperature, hot skin that is not sweating and might look red, a fast heartbeat, fast breathing or shortness of breath, confusion and lack of coordination, a seizure or fit, and loss of consciousness.
What this asks of your body
Heat is a load on the heart and the circulation before it is anything else, which is why the official risk list is full of heart and breathing conditions. A hot week also means walking to the shade, carrying water, and sometimes helping someone else move to a cooler room. The five ready body tests take ten minutes and tell you honestly how much spare capacity you have when the weather takes some of it away.
A hot week, day by day
None of this needs buying in advance. It is a rhythm more than a kit.
- Morning: close curtains and blinds on the sunny side before the sun reaches them, and shut the windows once outside is warmer than inside.
- Through the day: drink regularly, keep lights and equipment off, cook nothing that needs the oven.
- Afternoon: ring or knock on the two or three people on your list.
- Evening: open up when the outside air is cooler, and get air moving through the house.
- Night: sleep in the coolest room, fan on if it is below 35°C.
- Any time: never leave a person or an animal in a parked car.
The home emergency kit covers the rest, and a hot spell that takes out the power is the power cut page.
Frequently asked questions
What does an amber heat-health alert mean?
It means “weather impacts are likely to be felt across the whole health service, with potential for the whole population to be at risk” (UKHSA, checked 29 August 2026). It is aimed at health and social care professionals rather than at you, but it is a fair prompt to shade the house and check on neighbours.
Should I open the windows in a heatwave?
Only when the air feels cooler outside than inside, for example at night, and only if it is safe to do so (UKHSA, checked 29 August 2026). While it is hotter outside, an open window is letting heat in. Closed windows with blinds or curtains drawn keep more of the night’s cool.
Do electric fans help in very hot weather?
UKHSA’s advice is to “use electric fans if the air temperature is below 35°C, but do not aim the fan directly at your body as this can lead to dehydration” (checked 30 August 2026). Above 35°C, a cool shower, a damp cloth and a cooler room are the things it points you towards instead.
Who is most at risk in hot weather?
UKHSA names older people aged 65 and over, babies and children aged 5 and under, pregnant women, people with heart, breathing, kidney or mobility conditions, dementia, diabetes or Parkinson’s, people on certain medications, people with serious mental health problems, and people experiencing homelessness (checked 29 August 2026).
Do my medicines need to go in the fridge in a heatwave?
Some do. UKHSA notes that “some medications need to be stored below 25°C or in the fridge”, and its checklist says to check medicines can be stored according to the instructions on the packaging (checked 29 August 2026). If the box is unclear, ask your pharmacist rather than guessing.
What are the signs of heatstroke?
The NHS lists a very high temperature, hot skin that is not sweating and might look red, a fast heartbeat, fast breathing or shortness of breath, confusion and lack of coordination, a seizure or fit, and loss of consciousness (checked 29 August 2026). Call 999.
Is a heat-health alert the same as a Met Office weather warning?
No. The Heat-Health Alert is a health service signal from UKHSA and the Met Office; the weather warning is about the weather’s impacts on everyone, and extreme heat is one of eight weather types the Met Office warns on. Amber and red alerts may be issued alongside matching extreme heat warnings (checked 29 August 2026).
Sources & review
- Beat the heat: staying safe in hot weather, UKHSA on GOV.UK: who is at higher risk, closing blinds and curtains, opening windows when cooler outside, “use electric fans if the air temperature is below 35°C, but do not aim the fan directly at your body as this can lead to dehydration”, “Drink fluids regularly throughout the day especially if you are physically active” and “drink enough that your pee is a pale straw colour”, sugary drinks and alcohol, medicines below 25°C, and not leaving people or pets in stationary vehicles. Checked 30 August 2026.
- Beat the heat: keep cool at home checklist, UKHSA on GOV.UK: shading windows, turning the heating off, lights and equipment off, cooking at cooler times, moving to a cooler part of the house, checking medicine storage, and cooler public places. Checked 29 August 2026.
- Heat-Health Alerting system, UKHSA on GOV.UK: the green, yellow, amber and red alert meanings, the 1 June to 30 September season, and the intended audience. Checked 29 August 2026.
- Weather-Health Alerting System, UKHSA on GOV.UK: the system is run with the Met Office and gives early warning when adverse temperatures are likely to impact health and wellbeing. Checked 29 August 2026.
- Weather warnings guide, Met Office: the yellow, amber and red warning wording and the eight weather types warned on, including extreme heat. Checked 29 August 2026.
- Heat-health Alert service, Met Office: how the alert service relates to severe weather warnings and that it covers England. Checked 29 August 2026.
- Heat exhaustion and heatstroke, NHS: symptoms, the four cooling steps, “They should start to cool down and feel better within 30 minutes”, “Stay with them until they’re better”, calling 999 if they are still unwell after 30 minutes of resting in a cool place, being cooled and drinking fluids, and the heatstroke signs that mean 999. Checked 30 August 2026.
- Get prepared for emergencies, UK Government: making a plan to check in on neighbours. Checked 29 August 2026.
Reviewed by: TBC. Review date: 29 August 2026.