The UK is going through a heat wave at the moment. I realise that 30C is nothing special in many countries, but we're just not used to it. Humans need time to adapt to different conditions and our weather is rarely constant. These days a lot of offices ad most new cars have air conditioning. The a/c in my car needs fixing as the pump has died, but I'm not driving much at the moment. When I was growing up a/c was pretty rare, but we coped, even through the legendary summer of '76. Back then a lot of cars had vinyl seats. Those would get pretty hot.

The Guardian has some (humorous) tips on keeping cool. They may be scientifically sound, but are impractical. Changing your metabolism or stretching your limbs to increase surface area are just not going to happen.

At home we have lots of windows open and a fan to move some air around. The house is well insulated, but once it heats up, there's not much you can do without a/c. Just have to conserve energy and drink a lot.

So how do you keep cool?