Hello, it's winter where I am but I understand a lot of the world is experiencing extreme heat. As an Australian who has survived weeks of above 40C temperatures, fires, and prolonged drought I have some advice.
- In dry heat close your house. Close windows, draw blinds. Darkness is your friend. Open at night.
- Heat rises, so keep low if able - downstairs instead of upstairs.
- Use fans / aircon if you have them but prepare for possible electricity outages as demand increases.
- Damp towel over forehead.
- Drink water. Have it with you all the time.
- Stay out of the sun. Remain inside or in shade.
- Wear a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, light clothing if you do go out.
- Reduce activity. Rest more. Don't go jogging at midday or anything like that. Heat is physically and mentally exhausting.
- Go out if you need to in the early morning or late afternoon / after dark.
- If you can, keep kids home, & work from home.
- If it's still hot at night take a quick cool shower. Sleep is easier at 20C or below.
- Check on elderly & frail. They are vulnerable.
- Let yourself sweat. But keep up electrolytes with sports drinks or medically appropriate hydrating drinks / something like that.
- Your workplace / school should develop an extreme heat policy for health & safety.
- Don't go sight see near fires. Stay away.
- Keep a radio or access to radio stations available for advice from your emergency services / weather / news services.
@becadroit Ooh, there's heat information on the radio? Can we access that with a standard AM/FM receiver (we have one among all our game consoles) or do we need a special radio for that?
@IceWolf There maybe. In Australia the publicly owned and run radio stations are the emergency broadcasters for fire, flood, and extreme heat advice and are crucial for knowledge of current conditions but even commercial stations run warnings and condition updates. If your government or weather people or emergency organisations have advice for you it's worth getting the information anyway you can, via AM or FM radio stations, govt websites (if they are updated regularly), or live TV.
Also you may need information on public transport, and traffic conditions.