As London swelters under a brutal heatwave, residents are turning to extreme measures to get a decent night's sleep. One marketing worker, Eleanor Job, decided to completely abandon her bedroom in an attempt to get a better night sleep after "not sleeping a wink" the previous evening.
Sleeping on the balcony: A 35C heatwave survival tactic
The recent hot weather in the capital peaked Thursday, July 9, with the mercury reaching 35C. With the Met Office predicting that temperatures will not get too much lower over the next week, residents in London are taking extraordinary measures to keep cool. Being one of those people, Eleanor put up the tent, used a yoga mat as a mattress and even placed her indoor fan onto the balcony pointing into the tent.
Did sleeping outside help Eleanor feel cooler during the heatwave?
Waking up the next morning, Eleanor said: "Was it actually worth me sleeping in a tent on my balcony to escape the heatwave? I would actually say it was. I'd give it a solid 8 out of 10. Pros are I had a good night's sleep, I slept for seven hours rather than three to four. I have so much more energy today, like genuinely I feel, I feel amazing."
However she did explain that using a yoga mat as a mattress was not a good idea and added that her hips were "so sore" the following morning. She continued: "I got woken up at about 3am because I was too cold and I had to go and get a blanket, and I also got woken up at like five because the sun came up and the door [of the tent] was open so the light woke me up. But even though there's a lot of downsides I would still do it again because honestly there's nothing worse than trying to fall asleep and being too hot, like I cannot stand it."
Eleanor's warning to people who want to try sleeping outside in heatwave
She rated sleeping outside so much that she did it again the next evening with a couple of alterations including using sofa cushions as a mattress and also having an eye mask and ear buds on hand to limit any untimely distractions. After sharing her experience with her TikTok followers, a number of people replied to Eleanor's video with their own experiences.
One person said: "I tried sleeping outside but got woken by a fox sniffing my toes." A second said: "Eye mask, or wrap a piece of cloth over your eyes, and white noise in earphones. If I had a balcony I would camp on it. But I wouldn’t camp in my garden because the insects creep me out." A third added: "We stayed in a Premier Inn in the last heatwave. We woke up absolutely frozen from the air-conditioning. Its a wonderful memory."
