Keeping Elderly Relatives Safe and Cool in a UK Heatwave
Call 999 immediately if they are confused or disoriented, have stopped sweating, have hot dry skin, have a very high temperature, have had a seizure, or are unresponsive. That is heatstroke and it is a medical emergency.
Signs of heat exhaustion — heavy sweating, tiredness, dizziness, headache, nausea, cramps, fast pulse, feeling faint. Move them somewhere cool, get them to lie down with their feet slightly raised, give them water to sip, and cool their skin with a damp cloth or cool water on the neck, wrists and armpits. If they don’t improve within about 30 minutes, call 999.
For anything less urgent but still worrying, call NHS 111. Older people can deteriorate quickly in heat, and nobody at 111 will mind you calling.
Heat risk in the UK concentrates sharply in the oldest age groups — UKHSA’s mortality reporting shows the highest rates among the over-85s by a wide margin. The reasons are physiological and practical: thermoregulation changes with age, the sensation of thirst diminishes, and some common medications and conditions affect how the body handles heat. Add that many older people live alone, may not perceive the danger, and often resist “fussing”. The two things that matter most are keeping one room genuinely cool, especially at night, and checking in more often than feels necessary.
This is the most important article on this site, and the one where the practical home advice matters least compared to simply turning up.
Why older people are at greater risk
Not a question of being frail or unwell. Several things change with age that affect heat tolerance directly:
- Thermoregulation becomes less efficient. The body’s ability to shed heat through sweating and blood flow changes.
- Thirst sensation reduces, so dehydration can develop without the usual warning.
- Heart and circulatory conditions are more common, and heat puts additional strain on the cardiovascular system.
- Some medications can affect fluid balance, sweating or blood pressure. This is not a reason to stop or change anything — it’s a reason to have a conversation with a GP or pharmacist before summer.
- Mobility limits mean someone may not be able to move to a cooler room, open a window, or get themselves a drink.
- Cognitive conditions can mean the danger isn’t recognised, or that someone dresses for the wrong weather.
- Living alone means nobody notices deterioration.
Set up one cool room
Cooling a whole house is expensive and usually unnecessary. Pick one room and make it genuinely comfortable.
Choosing it: ground floor beats upstairs, because warm air rises and upstairs also takes heat down from the roof — our stack effect guide covers why. North-facing beats south or west. A solid floor helps. Avoid conservatories, loft rooms and anything with a flat roof entirely — these become genuinely dangerous.
Then:
- Shade the windows from mid-morning, before the room heats. This is the single highest-value free action, and closing curtains at teatime achieves very little by comparison. Our blinds guide covers what to look for.
- Purge ventilate at the right time — windows wide once outside is genuinely cooler than inside, shut in the morning. Most people get this backwards by hours. A cheap thermometer showing indoor and outdoor readings removes the guesswork, and it’s a good thing to install for someone who may not judge it well themselves.
- Move heat sources out — a television, a lamp, anything generating warmth.
- Make sure they can reach everything without getting up: water, remote, phone, anything they need.
The bedroom matters most
Overnight heat carries the greatest health consequence. The body needs cooler night-time temperatures to recover, and tropical nights — where the temperature doesn’t drop below 20°C — are becoming more common in the UK. Our tropical nights guide covers the trend.
If you’re going to cool one room properly, and they sleep upstairs in a room that bakes, consider whether they can sleep downstairs during the worst of it. A temporary bed in a cool ground-floor room is a legitimate answer for a week.
Hydration
Because thirst sensation reduces with age, “drink when you’re thirsty” is poor advice for this group.
- Regular small amounts beat occasional large ones
- Leave water visibly within reach, refreshed — a jug that’s still full at teatime tells you something
- Food with high water content helps — fruit, salads, soup
- If they’re on fluid restriction for a medical reason, follow the medical advice rather than general guidance, and ask the GP what changes in hot weather
Signs of dehydration worth knowing: dark urine, going less often, dry mouth, headache, dizziness, confusion. Confusion is the one to take seriously immediately.
Medicines and heat
Two separate issues, and the original version of this article overstated one of them.
Storage. Many medicines carry a storage instruction on the packaging, commonly “store below 25°C” or “store below 30°C” — but requirements vary by product, and the packaging is the only authority for any given medicine. Some need refrigeration; some say do not refrigerate; some carry no temperature instruction at all.
Practically: check the packaging, and move medicines out of the hottest places — the bathroom cabinet, a sunny windowsill, a kitchen cupboard near the oven, and never a car. A cupboard in a cool north-facing room downstairs is usually the most stable spot in a house. Our medicines guide covers this properly, and a pharmacist will answer a specific question in a minute.
Effect. Separately, some medicines can affect how the body copes with heat. That’s the medication review conversation above — not something to work out from an article, and never a reason to stop taking anything.
Checking in
The single most valuable thing on this page, and it costs nothing.
- More often than feels necessary during an amber or red heat alert. Our alerts guide covers what the levels mean and where to see them.
- In person if you can. Someone can sound fine on the phone and be sitting in a 30°C room in a cardigan.
- Look at the room, not just the person. Take a thermometer reading. Check whether the curtains are open on a sunny window and the windows shut.
- Ask specific questions. “Are you alright?” gets “yes” from almost everyone of that generation. “What have you had to drink today?” and “when did you last open a window?” get useful answers.
- Arrange a rota if several family members are involved, so nobody assumes someone else has called.
- Ask a neighbour to keep an eye out, and leave your number with them.
Where cooling equipment fits
A reasonable purchase for an older relative, with some practical considerations that don’t apply to a younger household.
Noise
More important here than usual. A loud unit in a quiet bungalow at night may simply get switched off, which defeats the purpose. Check the published decibel figure and the fan speed it was measured at — a figure without that is close to meaningless, and units are considerably louder at full speed.
Controls
Simple beats smart. A unit with a clear display, large buttons and a straightforward remote will be used; one that needs an app may not be. If you’re setting it up remotely, app control helps you — but make sure the physical controls work sensibly too.
Set it up and leave it set up
Don’t expect someone to move a 30kg unit between rooms or reinstall the window kit each summer. Put it in the right room, seal it properly, show them the one button they need, and leave a note on it.
Weight
These weigh 25–35kg. Moving it in and out of storage is a job for you, not them. Our moving guide covers doing it safely.
MeacoCool MC Series 9000 (MC9000)
Simple controls
16–26m²
53 dB minimum
A-rated
Meaco publish this as suitable for 16–26m² with an A energy rating and a stated 53 dB minimum noise level — enough for a typical living room or bedroom in a bungalow or flat. No app, which for this purpose is a feature rather than a limitation: two fan speeds, a remote and a display, and nothing to configure. UK brand with warranty support, which matters when the person using it won’t be troubleshooting a marketplace seller.
Good for: a single living room or bedroom set up once and left in place; households where simple physical controls beat app features.
Less good for: anyone very noise-sensitive — at 53 dB minimum it’s audible, and the compressor cycling on and off can be more disturbing than steady noise. It’s also heavy to position, so plan to do that yourself. If remote control from your own home would be genuinely useful, the Pro version with the Meaco app may suit better.
A pedestal fan
Simplest option
No installation
One switch
Often the right answer, particularly where an air conditioner would be too complicated, too loud or too much to set up. A fan doesn’t cool the room, but moving air increases evaporation from skin so a person feels cooler at the same temperature. Look for a stable base, simple controls and a remote if they’d struggle to get up.
Good for: simplicity, low running cost, and rooms where venting a hose is impractical.
Less good for: very hot conditions. Evaporative cooling becomes less effective as air temperature approaches body temperature, and heat guidance treats fans more cautiously in extreme heat for exactly that reason — particularly for older people. In a genuinely hot room, a fan is not a substitute for getting somewhere cooler and staying hydrated. Also check the base is stable enough not to be a trip hazard.
A pre-summer checklist
- ☐ Identify the coolest room and agree it’s the one to use
- ☐ Put a thermometer in it, ideally one showing indoor and outdoor
- ☐ Check curtains or blinds work on sun-facing windows
- ☐ Check windows actually open, and that they can open them
- ☐ Ask a GP or pharmacist for a medication review with heat in mind
- ☐ Check where medicines are stored and move them somewhere cool
- ☐ Register for the Priority Services Register
- ☐ Agree a check-in rota with family
- ☐ Leave your number with a neighbour
- ☐ Set up any cooling equipment and show them the one button
- ☐ Save 999, 111 and the GP number somewhere visible
Frequently asked questions
What temperature is too hot for an older person?
There’s no single figure, and it depends on the individual, their health and the humidity. Watch the person rather than the thermometer: confusion, unusual drowsiness, not sweating, and not drinking are the signs that matter. If in doubt, call 111.
They refuse to use the fan or air conditioner. What can I do?
Common, and usually about cost or not wanting a fuss. Showing them the actual running cost often helps — it’s lower than people of that generation assume. Our running cost guide covers the calculation. Framing it as something you’d like for your own peace of mind sometimes works better than framing it as something they need.
Should I worry about them being too cold from air conditioning?
Worth watching. Set a sensible temperature rather than the lowest available, and don’t aim the airflow directly at them. Our temperature guide covers sensible settings.
Is there any financial help?
Worth checking rather than assuming. Citizens Advice can run a benefits check, and several schemes go widely unclaimed. Some councils and charities also run summer support. Our year-round guide covers the winter side, where more support exists.
Sources
- NHS — Heat exhaustion and heatstroke
- NHS — Heatwave: how to cope in hot weather
- NHS — How should I store my medicine?
- UKHSA — Adverse Weather and Health Plan
- Met Office — Heat-Health Alerts
- Ofgem — Priority Services Register
- Age UK — Staying cool in a heatwave
- Citizens Advice — Citizens Advice
Related reading: our year-round temperature plan and heat health alerts guide.
Compare options at Amazon UK. For an older relative, prioritise simple physical controls and a low published noise figure over features.
