Plan ahead and make some cooling ice pops. These ombre coco-berry ice pops are both refreshingly cold and very pretty to look at, which will be a nice distraction from the fact that you’re currently sitting on the bathroom floor in your underwear with a wet towel on your head. You could also get all ‘I love a sunburnt country’ patriotic and make these green and gold mango and kiwi ice pops, or turn it into a party and make these michelada pops, which come dipped in beer.

You’ll be sweating buckets all day and night, so it’s important to stay hydrated. Bolster those eight glasses of water you’re faithfully consuming each day (ha!) by stocking up on fruits and veg that have a high water content. Think melons, berries, pineapple, stone fruit, citrus, capsicum, tomatoes and celery. Since turning on a stove is absolutely out of the question thank you very much, you’ll be wanting salad for dinner. This peach and tomato celebration salad is just the ticket – it’s hydrating, it’s no-cook and it’s celebrating the fact that you’ve managed to make it through the day without spontaneously combusting.

While the prospect of drinking a hot cup of tea might sound about as attractive as stapling an angry scorpion to your face right now, there is a method to this madness. When you drink that hot drink, it will make you sweat. When that sweat evaporates from your skin, it cools your body. But if you really, truly just cannot face the thought of coming within ten feet of a hot beverage (and we fully support your decision), try an iced tea. Better yet, put that iced tea in a fancy Monaco cocktail.

Much like the hot tea theory above, the heat from spicy foods can get you sweating, which cools your body down. This is something humanity has known for centuries. Think about it – why does the spiciest food in the world come from some of its hottest countries? Spicy foods also trigger the body’s fight-or-flight receptors (particularly if you’re a big chilli wuss), which makes your body sweat even more. Try this quick-cook chicken larb salad, these chilli prawn lettuce cups or these scallops with togarashi & chilli syrup dressing, that only take 1 minute to cook. Which is about as much as any sane person could tolerate right about now.

And not just for that minty fresh breath. Mint can actually trick your body into feeling cooler. When you consume things containing mint, it triggers the same receptors in your mouth that cold temperatures do. So shake up a round of mojitos to pair with this yoghurt flatbread with whipped feta and grape and mint salad, then load up on the choc-mint sundaes. You’ll get through this. Only 10 more heatwaves until autumn.