Stores are selling out of fans and paddling pools as throngs of people search for a way to cool down in the scorching weather.
Shoppers have been grabbing anything from the shelves that will cool them down, but many retailers have been struggling to cope with the surge in demand.
Internet-users have flocked to the Everything Berko Facebook page to ask for advice on places where fans are still available.
One user compared them to gold dust and said she had been to nine different stores where they have sold out.
She said: “Anyone know of somewhere that still has fans in stock in or close to Berko, please? Can’t take too much more of this heat.”
B&Q and Staples in Hemel Hempstead have sold out of all of their fans. Demand for ways to cool down has been so great that all paddling pools and fans have also sold out in the town’s nearby Sainsbury’s store.
B&Q spokesman Suzi Smith said: “In most locations we have reasonable stock of fans and air conditioning units but we have patches where sales have more than trebled, resulting in our cooling products selling out.
“We are doing everything we can to ensure that stock is in the right locations with more going into these areas.”
But the baking weather has been great for many of the area’s school children, who have today been celebrating their last day of term before the summer holidays.
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