Bodee

SC, I retired 3 years ago (almost) and I cant remember a decent run of weather in all these 3 years. And further back I can remember good hot spells but not for more than fortnight. What part of Scotland are you in? Sounds like you are north of Dundee. Are you within reach of Lossiemouth or Hopeman? They must be lovely with this weather.

Wear wet clothes "The most obvious suggestion to me is that you dampen your clothes," says Cambridge University physicist Lisa Jardine-Wright. In order for the water to evaporate - changing its state from a liquid to a gas - there needs an input of heat energy, she explains. This energy will come from the heat of your body which produces a cooling effect to your skin, lowering your temperature. If you use a fan as well, the air blowing over your skin speeds up the process of evaporation, helping you to feel even cooler. "When I was cycling in France it was more than 40C and I soaked my T-shirt in water before I went out. But that's a bit extreme," Jardine-Wright adds. "Anything that involves evaporation is going to take the heat away from you." Stick your hands in cold water Plunging your hands into a bucket or a basin full of cold water will help you cool down, says Mike Tipton, professor of human physiology at the University of Portsmouth. When your deep body temperature rises, blood is sent to the surface of the skin. "Your hands have a high surface area - it's like you have five radiators sticking out of your palm," says Tipton. "As soon as the deep body temperature returns to normal, it slows the blood flow to your hands and you'll feel cool." Fans next to windows A fan placed in the middle of a closed room will circulate the air, which helps speed up the evaporation of your sweat. But it will be much more effective if the device is placed next to an open window, says Jardine-Wright, as this will draw air from outdoors, which should be colder. "You're taking the cooler air from the outside and propelling it inside," she says. "If there are no windows or doors open you're just circulating the hot air." Eat a curry Tucking into a hot vindaloo or madras may seem a counter-intuitive way to lower your temperature. But eating spicy food helps cool you down, says Tipton. Curry contains capsaicin, a heat compound in chilli peppers that stimulates sweat production. "Anything you can do to make sure you are sweating means you will enhance evaporative heat loss," Tipton adds. "As the water evaporates you will feel cooler." Bedouin robes It's widely assumed that wearing lighter-coloured clothing is the best way to stay cool. This isn't necessarily the case, however. A 1980 study of Bedouin tribes found the colour of their garment made little difference to their body temperature. "White clothing will reflect more light, but black clothes are better radiators of heat," says Jardine-Wright. However, she says there is a option that has very clear benefit - wearing looser clothes, like the robes favoured by the Bedouin. "If you have air circulating next to your skin, it will help to evaporate the perspiration, and this will make you feel cooler." Lukewarm showers Standing under a freezing shower might sound like the quickest way to bring your temperature down. But your body will react to a dramatic change like this by trying to preserve heat. "If I'm hot and I go under a cold shower, I'll shut down the blood flow to the skin and trap the heat inside me rather than let it escape," says Tipton. As a result, he says, it's better to use water that is in the 20s Celsius than water that is in the 10s. "It's better to have a warmer shower that is cool enough to lower the deep body temperature but is warm enough to allow the blood to the surface of the skin." Sash windowsContinue reading the main story More from the Magazine Try the heatwave quiz from earlier this week Tom de Castella investigates how to sleep in hot weather (August 2012) and whether it's possible to make weather talk interesting(June 2012) Can you advertise British weather to tourists?Vanessa Barford asked in February 2012 People with sash windows don't always remember this, but opening both the top and bottom windows by equal amounts is a very efficient way of cooling down a room. This lets rising warm air out of the top while drawing cooler air through the bottom. The same principle applies in two-storey homes, says Jardine-Wright. "It's good if you can get the circulation going throughout the house," she adds. "If you open both the upstairs and downstairs windows, you will improve the circulation through the house as the hot air rises and cold air enters through the ground floor windows." Fan your face If you use a fan, make sure you direct the flow of air to your face, says Tipton. "It's more effective because the face has so many receptors on it," he says. "Even though you're not cooling down your whole body, fanning your face has a disproportionate effect on your comfort." However, he warns, it's important not to make a common mistake - using a manual fan too vigorously, and warming yourself up by doing so.

Deb it's not just the people you would think who are idiots where pets and hot cars are concerned. A tragic case for dogs and handler. "A police sergeant who locked two helpless dogs inside his vehicle, on the hottest day in London since July 2006, has slashed his wrists and jumped from a colleagues car while travelling at 30mph - in an futile attempt to commit suicide. The two dogs, one a Belgian Malinois Shepherd bitch and a German Shepherd puppy were found baking inside Sergeant Ian Craven's car. He had gone to attend a meeting several miles away and had locked the doors and fully closed the windows on Sunday - a day where temperatures soared to 30c (86f). He only realised his oversight more than an hour later and tried frantically to call fellow officers. Kennel workers from the Metropolitan Police force's Dog Training Establishment, of which Sergeant Craven heads, cut through the steel cage which the dogs were inside and applied mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and cool water. But it was all in vain as both dogs died moments later." Well done on your prompt action by the way. Also if anyone does travel with their dog, even if you leave the windows open, make sure to carry a flask with iced water and a bowl with you to offer him regular drinks. I also use some of the water to wet the top of my dog's head.

We are enduring some very high temperatures over here in the UK, especially London and the south East which is at warning level 3 which means precautions have to be taken for the sick, elderly and anyone with a medical condition....30+degrees and no sign of it falling. We of course don't have air conditioning over here apart from some department stores, top restaurants, bars and the better equiped private flats and houses ...........it's just not worth it most of the time, so we suffer at times like these, especially those living inland. It is also difficult for workers trying to get a decent night's sleep. As I type this, my 10 year old Schnauzer is lying on the carpet with a towel I soaked in cold water laid over him. I put ice cubes in his water to try and cool him down. Remember your pets.

Outstanding! Way to Marion................judging by what goes on over here in the UK, I think the average IQ of our soccer players is about 20 on a good day. At the end of the day we should all remember the only thing that matters is a "good heart"

I hope she wins Wimbledon for the next 5 years just to piss them off. The BBC were no better (as hv88 says) when John Inverdale was also detrimental about her looks. But JI is one of the most despised commentators on TV. Even Pat Cash the well known Aussie loudmouth deemed it appropriate to say this in an interview in 2009 Pat Cash has launched an astonishing attack on Scottish Wimbledon hopeful Andy Murray who he described as being "ugly" and "boring", according to a report in The Star. "The 44-year-old, who won the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 1987, said that Murray was "never going to be eye-candy" and claimed he had a "monotonous" voice. Speaking ahead of Murray's second-round match, Cash said: "He has the most boring, monotone voice in the history of the planet."

Hv88 I think that has since been denied although I am not positive. more » @_PaulHayward: Just bumped into Andy Murray and asked him whether it's correct he's donating his entire prize-money to Royal Marsden. Not correct. 13 hours I think you will find it was the prize money he won at the Queen's Tournament a fortnight ago was what he donated. That twitter post was someone getting confused.

40 degrees of heat. Jeez if our Football team had known how to handle that kind of heat we might have won the World Cup 35 years ago.

I have my 8 feet x 6 feet (the one that went to Wembley in '78) Saltire hanging from my window. Scotland and the rest of the UK is in meltdown. Canucks for the Stanley now.............come on!

YES ANDY! YA BEAUTEEEEE!..........I'M GETTING PISSED TO-NIGHT A word for Novak ........A real gentleman, gracious in defeat as he is in victory. Looking forward to many more Battles Royale between these two great players. I am a proud Scot to-night.

At least that's 2 things we have in common.......... As for "crying on the court" to me that just shows she has passion, unlike some hard faced, fist pumpers, we have had in the ladies lately. Good luck to Andy to-day. If you are going to be the best you have to beat the best. At present there is no one better than Novak imo. A nice guy as well. Should be a great final.

"Inspired by the Tortorella’s love of animals in need .............." Ok that's Booth on the bench.

With Tortorella in control.........at the very least Sestito better learn to "fight his weight" and win or he will be in Utica for the duration.

"Gillis has made some moves that haven't worked out, but he's also made some that have. More particularly I think he's made ones that will work out as the core built by Burke and Nonis moves on and it'll be on Gillis to find a way to get top end talent to fill in despite being a top team in the NHL year after year." How simplistic and shallow that statement is. Making moves that "worked out" have been few but more to the point these moves were not strengthening or upgrading the 2011 roster and in some cases, they weakened it. The whole point with Gillis and the reason we are in this mess is that he never addressed the team's needs. He just made moves. He landed us with a goalie fiasco when any focussed clear minded GM would have moved Schneider and admitted he still had one of the top goalies in the league. He would have identified a replacement for Manny and signed him BEFORE he humiliated him and then spent the rest of the season looking desperate. He would have calculated BEFORE parting with Hodgson which player would have helped us NOW, not 3 years down the line. None of this is rocket science ............he is just rank bad at prioritising, focussing and thinking ahead to where the team needed to be. He is weak on player trading, signing and it will not improve now that he has been rumbled by the other GMs.

Excellent post oldnews.