Weather is a funny old thing isn’t it? For much of the summer we had no summer and then just when what was supposed to be the summer ended, the summer started.
Rising mercury has prompted Met Éireann to issue a Status Yellow warning until the weekend with heat of all things being behind the alert.
While unseasonable spikes in temperature are understandably a cause for concern - particularly when looking at the bigger picture - warm and sunny weather is also something to delight in, especially when you know that once the curtain comes down on this spell of unseasonable pleasantness, we can look forward to a long, dark, cold and wet spell that will last at least 200 days.
But while you should relish the days ahead you should also take precautions to ensure you don’t start next week a tired, cranky and sunburned mess of a person.
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1. Wear sunblock
Too many Irish people think sunscreens are for foreign holidays, but the sun will burn you just as handily in Termonfeckin as in Torremolinos: so use sunblock.
2. Use more of it
Most of us apply only 20 to 50 per cent of the recommended amount of sunscreen and end up getting a lot less protection than we imagine. Apply it thickly and evenly with an amount about the size of a golf ball in your hand for use over your entire body. And apply it around 20 minutes before you go into the sun to allow it work its magic.
3. Sleep better
It won’t be long before people start moaning about it being too hot. You might already have heard the moaning. Much of the moaning focuses on night time as people struggle to sleep. Open your bedroom windows for an hour before bed to get the cool air in and dump the duvet and dig out some sheets to sleep under or on top of instead.
4. Ice ice baby
Bring a glass of water with a hunk of ice in it to bed beside you. If you wake up hot and sweaty in the middle of the night you’ll be glad it is there.
5. Don’t stress
Worrying about the heat and how it is keeping you awake is one thing that is going to keep you awake. So adopt a Zen-like attitude and accept that you might have some restless nights but it won’t last forever and you can sleep all you want when the miserable weather returns.
6. Take action
If you are absolutely melting - or think you are - plunge your hands and feet into cold water. The pulse points near your extremities will see you cooling down faster than you can say. “Oh it’s too hot, I can’t be coping with all this heat.”
7. Think before you drink
While sunshine and alcohol are lovely bedfellows. be warned that lorrying into the booze in the heat could make your life more challenging. Alcohol will dehydrate you even faster over the next few days and will disturb your sleep even more.
8. Hold the coffee
Like alcohol, coffee dehydrates you, so maybe cut back on it for the next few days and have some nice refreshing herbal teas instead. Or if that’s not for you drink your coffee but also drink loads of water and maybe the odd isotonic drink.
9. Eat differently
Obviously there is ice cream, but also foods with a high water content including strawberries, cucumbers, celery, lettuce and all the other juicy fruits you can think of.
10. Swim safe
This is arguably the most important point. Hot weather draws people to water but if you’re swimming take care. Don’t swim in places not designed for it and don’t swim alone. Pay close attention to tides and currents and don’t take any risks.
11. Enjoy
But no matter what you do, enjoy the sunshine. It’ll be gone before you know it.