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'I spent 16 years heat-proofing my home there's one item everyone needs in bedrooms'

The UK is suffering through a punishing heatwave and people are looking for ways to keep themselves cool - according to one woman, there is one item everyone needs in their bedrooms

[Overheated young woman resting on bed using electric fan for relief]

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Britain is experiencing a punishing heatwave (stock)(Image: Getty Images)

As the UK is in the midst of a sweltering heatwave, Brits up and down the country are wondering how to keep themselves cool.

Weather records have been tumbling this month, including the hottest May day on record with a punishing 35.1C recorded in London. Brits also sweated through the night with the mercury pushing record 21.4C last night (Tuesday, May 26).

One journalist thinks she has the solution for people looking to heat-proof their home. She reckons there's one item everyone needs to install in their bedrooms.

Esther Walker says she's spent 16 years heat-proofing her home. She started the long project because she moved into a south-facing house in Kentish Town, north-west London, meaning the house was blasted by sun and light from April until October.

With heatwaves increasing in intensity, her advice is becoming more and more pertinent.

[Low angle view of fans and fluorescent lights on ceiling]

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Esther Walker recommends everyone should get a ceiling fan (stock)(Image: Getty Images)

A sobering report published by the Climate Change Committee said that British homes will need air conditioning to survive predicted levels of global heating coming over the next 10 years.

According to Esther, there is one item in your bedroom that will change how you deal with heatwaves - a ceiling fan.

Speaking in the I, she says she made the decision while lying awake during one hot night.

She said: "I tell everyone I meet who is having building work done to put a ceiling fan in their bedroom and they, too, smile kindly at me like I am off my rocker and ignore the advice. More fool them."

Her husband was also "skeptical", suggesting their bedroom would "look like something out of a Greek holiday villa"

Esther added: "When I said I wanted a ceiling fan, everyone looked at me like I was demanding a sunken bath or a bidet. It didn't help that this bout of building work happened in a particularly freezing bit of winter, when the idea that it would ever be too hot to sleep was wild. The electricians huffed and puffed and the request was repeatedly forgotten."

[Woman using electric fan at home enjoying fresh air on hot summer day.]

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Temperature records have been broken this month (stock)(Image: Getty Images)

Much of England and Wales had entered an official heatwave by yesterday, which means a certain area has to reach a threshold temperature for three days in a row. That's 25C for northern and western areas of the UK and up to 28C in London and the Home Counties.

According to figures from the International Institute for Environment and Development, London has experienced 116 days higher than 30C in the past three decades. More than half of those days have occurred in the past 10 years.

Temperatures are getting more and more extreme but thankfully they are beginning to cool in this current heatwave.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) charity has warned of the "very real risk" of swimming in open water in response to the deaths of five children in the water since the heatwave began.

Cold water shock can lead to hyperventilation, as well as spikes in heart rates and blood pressure.

A statement said: "With many children enjoying half-term, the lifesaving charity is urging everyone to stay safe."

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