I have always sufffered from the heat a lot, it just doesn't agree with me as it leaves me feeling lethargic and hot and bothered and to make matters worse over the last few years I have entered into the menopause with very very very hot flushes which come on when you least expect them at any time of the day and especially at night which made me so desperate once that I stuck my head into the ice making compartment of the fridge!!!

But what can one do? Well at the start of the day have a long cool shower. Tie your hair back in a kind of pony tail if it is long and preferably tie it back when it is still wet, that way it will stay damp throughout most of the morning and having it like that will keep your head cool.

Wear loose fitting clothes and preferably of natural materials like cotton or linen. Choose a nice pair of sandals that lets a lot of air get to your feet.

Keep in your handbag a bottle of spray mist water for giving your face a fresh squirt every now and then and also have some clean wipes impregnated with cologne to wipe the back of your neck and the wrists and palms of your hand.

When the heat is getting to you a lot run cold running water over your wrists.

I also carry about with me a fan, which Spanish ladies use a lot, and it is very useful especially after you have put some mist on your face. I have also seen some other people use those portable battery operated mini fans that you can carry in your bag.

If you have time to repeat your shower routine again at mid-day, all the better.

Try and stay in the shade and if not wear a large hat and if you are indoors open lots of windows of the house so as to create a draft (in the winter it's called a draft but in the summer it's called a nice cool breeze!).

In Spain, which is very hot in the summer, people open all the windows but on the outside of the windows they have shutters or rafia blinds that don't let the sun get in. If you don't have these close the curtains a little.

Drinks lots of water and fruit juices and stay away from hot spicy foods.

There are also special ice packs which retain their coolness for quite some time which you can use to dab at your chest, arms or wherever to help cool you down.

Do everything that you have to do calmly and don't rush about as that will only get you hotter. Try and leave any strenuous things that need to be done for the early evening when it starts to cool down a little and certainly leave any ironing that has to be done for then - ironing is one of the best ways to get you even hotter during the summer!

At night just have on your bed the under sheet and your pillow and maybe a top sheet and keep your hair tied up away from your neck. If you, like me, have night flushes and are fed up with changing the pillow case during the night because you wake up to find it soaking wet put a soft towel between your head and the pillow and keep a spare towel beside the bed.

And really other than to turn on the air conditioner, which you didn't want, I can't think of any other tips.

I have long hoped that someone would invent a kind of astronaut suit and helmet which had your own personal air conditioning system inside, because to get away from the heat I would forget about fashion and wearing nice clothes and use this instead no matter how ulgy it looked !!!

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