August usually sends me into an anxious funk, but I think I’ve worked out how to handle 2026’s terrifying heat and apocalyptic images. Unfortunately for hairdressers, “How’s your summer going?” is a loaded question this year. Even basking lizards and barbecue obsessives are wavering in their sun worship as cataclysmic wildfires engulf our nearest neighbours (and threaten the UK), Wales and parts of England experience drought, and farmers issue dire warnings about our food supply in the near future. Rescue centres are filling up with dehydrated hedgehogs and the Environment Agency is having to rescue fish. Lazy, joyful, sunscreen-scented days are giving way to stifling, existentially terrifying ones spent skulking in the dark (assuming you don’t need to be out in the extreme heat, as many workers do), sweatily scrolling through apocalyptic images.

Vanity Fair has decreed it’s a “sad-girl summer”, highlighting the female singer-songwriters soundtracking the myriad anxieties of an “undeniably cruel” 2026 season, but it’s not just the girlies who are sad - many of us are struggling and we still have August to survive. How? Treat yourself like a beloved dog, apparently. That’s the advice from Emma Beddington, who suggests we adopt the canine approach to life: nap when tired, eat when hungry, and don’t feel guilty about seeking shade. Other survival tips include: embrace the siesta (the Spanish had it right), invest in blackout curtains and a fan, drink copious amounts of water, and remember that this too shall pass - or at least September will arrive. And if all else fails, just lie on the floor like a beached whale and wait for the apocalypse. It’s as good a plan as any.