Escaping the overnight heat to sleep has preoccupied many in the past few days, with people turning to unusual means to get a good night’s slumber.

With temperatures barely dipping below 30C in some parts of the UK on Monday night, finding the coolest place to sleep has been a challenge.

i spoke to those who have left the bedroom altogether to seek solace, shade and a snooze elsewhere.

Genevieve Hassan, 41, a journalist, has perfected the art of slumber as the temperature soars.

The host of the podcast Celebrity Catch Up: Life After That Thing told i: “I bought a tent at the start of last summer for the sole purpose of sleeping in the garden. It’s literally the best £40 I have ever spent.”

When she mentioned her plans, she said everyone had laughed at her and told her she was crazy.

However, she spent five nights in a row in the one-man tent last summer and managed to get a good night’s sleep in the heat.

And in the face of mid- to high 20s celsius in north London on Monday evening, she still managed eight hours sleep in her tent.

All she needed was her tent, an airbed and a blanket for when the temperature dropped in the early hours of the morning. “I’m not so crazy now!” she said.

Unfortunately, her husband had to sleep indoors because he is too tall for the tent.

But she added: “I enjoy being in there on my own.”

She added that after zipping up the tent there was little bother from creepy crawlies and her cats kept other unwanted visitors at bay.

The only disturbance was the occasional noise from foxes fighting and squawking parakeets.

“It’s generally a lot cooler in the garden than the house and normally I get seven or eight hours’ sleep”, she said. “The irony is I hate camping!”

Meanwhile, for father and son Paul and Charlie Bates, the prospect of a hot and sweaty night indoors at 27C prompted them to take to the trampoline in the garden to get some kip in a makeshift shelter.

Mr Bates, from Five Oaks, near St Helier in Jersey, told i: “Me and my boy slept outside on the trampoline.

“We put a mattress topper on it and had a couple of throws held together with washing pegs as a ‘roof’.”

For eight-year-old Charlie, it proved a great spot to snooze.

“We went to bed about 10:30pm when it was dark enough, and my boy was out like a light”, said Mr Bates, 46, head of retail at a Jersey wholesalers.

However, the trampoline was not the comfortable spot he had hoped for, and a combination of heat, traffic noise and seagulls proved too much.

“It was still too warm, too noisy with the seagulls and sound of traffic and not comfortable enough so I gave up at 1am and we both went inside!”, he said. “So I won’t be doing it again.”

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