How to sleep in a heatwave: 13 clever tips and cooling essentials
Too hot to sleep? From temperature-regulating mattress toppers to a fan quiet enough for the bedroom, here are our best buys for sweaty nights – and what to avoid
The best fans, tested
If there’s anything more uncomfortable than enduring a heatwave in Britain, it’s sleeping through one
But hot nights are only going to get more common if the climate crisis continues its long march. While Britons are already accustomed to poor sleep – with the average adult getting just three days a week of good kip, according to the Mental Health Foundation – heat doesn’t help. Dr Allie Hare, consultant in sleep medicine and co-president of the British Sleep Society, says: “Being too hot during sleep can significantly reduce sleep quality and duration. In particular, it can reduce slow wave (deep) sleep, the stage of sleep that helps us awaken feeling rested.”
The Sleep Charity offers this guidance on its website: “An ideal bedroom temperature is around 16-18C … Temperatures over 24C are likely to cause restlessness, while a cold room of about 12C will make it difficult to drop off.”
But all hope is not lost for those who want to beat the heatwave in their sleep. “Your brain is very smart about sleep,” Hare says, “and it will eventually ensure that you do [drop off], even if it remains warm at night.”
To make getting some shut-eye even easier when the mercury rises, we have gathered the best tried and tested products, from the best quiet fans to the coolest sheets for your bed
13 tips and essentials to help you sleep in a heatwave
A natural-fibre mattress
Millbrook Wool Luxury 4000 mattress, double
£604 at Mattress Online
£759 at B&Q
Lay the foundations with a decent mattress that allows air to flow, keeps sweat off your skin and does not trap heat. And Jane Hoskyn might have just stumbled upon “the one”. She reviewed the Millbrook pocket-spring wool mattress for a test during one heatwave and was amazed by how it kept her cool. “The Millbrook doesn’t retain heat in the way that foam can,” she concluded, “and its wool layers can help regulate your body’s temperature through the sweaty and shivery excesses of summer and winter.”
A cooling bamboo topper
Panda bamboo topper, double
If you don’t have a suitable mattress, then consider this memory foam/bamboo hybrid topper from Panda. Jane Hoskyn tried it for her test of the best mattress toppers, and was impressed by the “temperature-regulating hydro foam” that provided a cooling sensation, while the bamboo cover helped avoid overheating. The bamboo topper is also breathable and moisture-wicking, helping sweat evaporate more easily and reducing the chance of overheating on hot nights.
Breathable linen bedding
Piglet in Bed linenbedding,double
With breathable, moisture-wicking properties that mean it won’t cling to your skin, linen is generally considered the best fabric for the summer months. Piglet in Bed offers a range of linen pillowcases, duvets and sheets that not only make for a pleasant night’s sleep, but are also free from harmful chemicals and dyes. Among its fans is London-based interior designer Eva Sonaike, who told us it was the top choice for her son, who has allergies.
Freeze your bedding
Freeze your pillowcases and dry pyjamas in a bag for 15 to 20 minutes before bedtime. The brief burst of coolness makes it much easier to fall asleep during particularly sticky weather. I discovered this tip a few years ago and now use it whenever temperatures start climbing
A cotton-cover duvet
Fogarty Cool Sleep 10.5-tog duvet
The Fogarty Cool Sleep has a cooling cotton cover, treated with a special “phase change material” to prevent overheating. It was Jane Hoskyn’s top pick for “anyone who tends to overheat at night” in her roundup of the best duvets
Our favourite fan for cooling
Dreo TurboCool misting fan 765S
Caramel Quin tested this“on the hottest day of 2026 so far” and chose it as her favourite pick for cooling in her guide to the best fans. It has a six-litre water tank to add a fine mist to the air, which lowered temperatures by 3C in her tests. “I felt the occasional, pleasant cool drop of water,” she wrote. “But the floor didn’t get wet, and neither did the anemometer, placed between me and the fan.”
Take a shower
I take a lukewarm shower about half an hour before I plan to sleep. It can be tempting to stand under freezing cold water, but a cooler wash helps lower your body temperature without making you shiver afterwards. I also avoid drying my hair completely, as the remaining moisture feels refreshing when I drift off
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Help kids sleep
Tommee Tippee Ollie the Owl portable blind
Organic cotton sleeping bag
It’s important to take steps to ensure children don’t have sleepless nights during the summer. To maintain a cool room, “keep blinds or curtains closed during the day to block out direct sunlight, and dress babies in just a nappy or a super-light layer,” said Rosey Davidson, sleep consultant and CEO of Just Chill Baby Sleep, in our guide to beating the heat. She recommends the Tommee Tippee portable blind, a must for early bedtime routines, as well as this light muslin sleeping bag.
A cooling face mist
Avène thermal mist spray, 50ml
Once you have your bed prepped, your fan ready to blow and the blackout blinds draped, you may still feel the need to cool your face. Lily Smith suggests Avène’s thermal mist spray, which is suitable for sensitive skin and provides a tingling sensation that feels like pleasantly cooling sea mist
Block out the midsummer light
MyHalos sleep mask
A blackout sleep mask can also help ease you into slumber. In her review of the best sleep aids, Jane Hoskyn raved about the MyHalos sleep mask: “On my first attempt, I didn’t fall asleep much faster than usual, but I woke up in joyous disbelief at the nine (yes, nine!) hours of shut-eye I’d achieved.”
Sleep with a frozen hot-water bottle
You heard correctly. The winter staple has proven to be a life-saver during suffocating summers. I half-filled a hot-water bottle and left it overnight (to allow the ice to expand) before hugging it to sleep the next night. The cooling sensation made all the difference. (Just don’t use the same bottle for hot water this winter, as it may not be safe.)
Stay hydrated
Ocean Go bottle
And if you’re feeling parched before you go to bed, try adding an Ocean Go bottle to your nightstand instead of a glass of water. It’s lightweight and, as Zoë Phillimore discovered in her roundup of the best water bottles, keeps your water cold, with ice lasting for up to 90 minutes thanks to superb insulation
Something to avoid …
With all the top tips for sleeping in a heatwave covered, what’s the one item to swerve? “Using alcohol to help with sleep in the summer!” says Hare, “although it can feel as though it helps you to fall asleep, alcohol significantly disrupts your REM sleep and can cause you to wake up later in the night. Stay hydrated with water or dilute fruit juices instead.”
Ravi Meah is a journalist with more than two decades of experience chasing deadlines, correcting data, testing sleep health hacks and bumping into 1980s pop bands. He’s a big fan of smart home techand will always choose a cool breeze over a British heatwave
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