Item commonly found in car can help keep house cool in heatwave | Weather | News

With temperatures soaring above 30C across the UK, people have been on the hunt for tips to cool down their homes and dodge the heat.

One clever Brit shared how he uses an item usually bought for cars in his home to keep his bedroom cool throughout the day for a better nights’ sleep.

All he does is place a car windscreen cover against his bedroom window before shutting the curtains as normal, saying this helps to decrease the room’s temperature by a few extra degrees.

It turns out he isn’t alone in using this trick, as Reddit users are raving about how effective this advice is.

One user exclaimed: “Sounds daft but I just had a shower thought that maybe I could tape my car windscreen cover to my bedroom window during the day when my room get the most sun light.”

Another agreed: “Literally had the same idea this morning and it’s keeping my office relatively cool!”

A third Reddit user said: “Not gonna lie, that’s actually a great idea!”

Meanwhile, another suggested an even more budget-friendly approach: “Just use tin foil shiny side out. It does the same job and is much cheaper.”

While others reckon it’s worth giving a whirl if you’ve got one lying around, they wouldn’t suggest purchasing one solely for this purpose, advising: “Don’t expect miracles, but it helps with a few degrees difference.”

The inventive cooling method comes as The Met Office slaps a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms post-heatwave across the country.

Most of the north is under this alert from 5pm today (Saturday) through to the wee hours of 3am tomorrow (Sunday).

Experts have issued a stark warning about the potential for flooding and power disruptions in areas within the warning zone, cautioning: “There is a small chance that some communities become cut off by flooded roads.”

The official statement warns: “Whilst some showers and isolated thunderstorms are expected during Saturday afternoon, further and potentially intense thunderstorms are likely to develop during Saturday evening across northwest England and perhaps northeast Wales.”

It continues: “Whilst there is still some uncertainty in when and where these develop, thunderstorms could produce a combination of frequent lightning, large hail, strong winds and heavy rain (in places, 30-40 mm in less than 2 hours) as they move northeast into northeast England and perhaps southeast Scotland overnight.”

The statement concludes with the forecast that “Thunderstorms are expected to move offshore into the North Sea during the latter part of Saturday night.”

Regions and local authorities affected:

East Midlands

• Derbyshire
• Nottinghamshire

North East England

• Darlington
• Durham
• Gateshead
• Hartlepool
• Middlesbrough
• Newcastle upon Tyne
• North Tyneside
• Northumberland
• Redcar and Cleveland
• South Tyneside
• Stockton-on-Tees
• Sunderland

North West England

• Blackburn with Darwen
• Blackpool
• Cheshire East
• Cheshire West and Chester
• Cumbria
• Greater Manchester
• Halton
• Lancashire
• Merseyside
• Warrington

SW Scotland, Lothian Borders

Wales

• Conwy
• Denbighshire
• Flintshire
• Wrexham

West Midlands

• Staffordshire
• Stoke-on-Trent
• Yorkshire & Humber

East Riding of Yorkshire

• Kingston upon Hull
• North Lincolnshire
• North Yorkshire
• South Yorkshire
• West Yorkshire
• York