Struggling to sleep in the heat? It's time to grab your hot water bottle to try this 'genius' cooling hack

Most households will have a hot water bottle stored away for winter, but it's time to dig it out to try this latest viral cooling hack by filling it with cold water and freezing it.

I know I'm not the only one struggling to sleep in the heat right now, as record-breaking temperatures continue to make conditions uncomfortable. And despite knowing plenty of savvy ways to keep cool, I've somehow overlooked this simple hot water cooling hack.

When looking to keep a bed cool in summer, we often recommend freezing bottles of water to put in the bed to lower temperatures or freezing bed sheets, but there's a more effective hack that feels far more logical – a frozen hot water bottle. Genius.

Trying the frozen hot water bottle hack to stay cool

Many videos are circling on social media, but it was this one that caught my attention and reminded me of this easy method for keeping cool – as it did for this thankful follower: "Omggg how did I not think of this!!! BLESS YOUUUUU."

All you need to do is fill your empty hot water bottle with water, only fill it half to 3/4 full to allow for the water to expand as it freezes. Pop it in the freezer for at least 4 hours, and voila, you have a cold comforter to pop in your bed to keep it cool.

If you are using it on your skin, to cool pulse points, it's best to pop the cover back on to avoid harming the skin. In fact, you're best to pop the cover back on to forget your sheets or clothing from the perspiration. Obviously, if you have a furry, winter-style cover, we recommend wrapping it in an empty pillowcase instead.

"This is genius", writes another social media user, while one enthusiastically comments: "I WILL be using this tomorrow, we have a hot water bottle we never use, and I've always wanted to use it. This is a great idea. Even just cold water going into it will help tomorrow." It's safe to say this cooling hack is going viral right now for a reason; we are all desperate to do whatever we can to keep cool in the extreme heat.

While the best cooling fans can help keep a room cool without AC, many can't sleep with a device on because the noise is counterproductive to getting to sleep. This simple hot water bottle cooling hack is the easy way to cool your body down to help you sleep, rather than the room.

And why is that important? Our w&h health editor, Grace Walsh, explains: "A drop in core body temperature is an important trigger for sleep. Before we drift off, our body temperature naturally drops by about one degree. Our heart rate and blood pressure lower, and our brain starts to wind down. When we're too hot, this can't happen, and our sleep starts to suffer."

I've already got mine in the freezer, ready to help me keep cool later, not just for bed to be honest – I'll be hugging that frozen comforter all afternoon at this rate.