Heatwave warning: Follow these crucial tips to avoid damaging your phone today

The soaring temperatures baking the UK won’t be going away for the rest of the week, forecasters have confirmed. The Met Office’s extreme heat warning will be in place until Friday for some parts of the country. But while most of us are enjoying the arrival of summer, it’s a different story when it comes to your electronic devices. Hot weather can trigger all kinds of problems with your smartphone and other gadgets.

Virgin Media O2 and USwitch have both issued warnings to customers to shield their broadband routers from the heat. Rising temperatures can cause sluggish download speeds and poor Wi-Fi signal, they cautioned.

And now, it seems our smartphones won’t be able to deal with the mercury topping 32ºC all that well, either. Overheated smartphones can struggle to function properly, and may also experience serious battery life issues. And it’s not only smartphones that you need to worry about, all manner of devices can be affected, such as iPads, Kindles, laptops, and more.

Most of these gadgets are essential to help working from home, reading in the garden, calling friends and family, and more. So, you really don’t want your device to succumb to the sweltering heat.

Most people typically have their smartphone in their pocket when they’re not using it, or in their hand while they are. Normal weather and body heat won’t cause any overheating issues with your device, but the heatwave might. While you’re sitting out in the sun, or in a warm room, your device is heating up much quicker than you.

Normally, devices can regulate their temperature easily, but the extreme heat could throw a spanner in the works. If you notice your smartphone or any other device is slower than usual or feels physically very hot in your hand, your device may be at risk of overheating.

Warning about overheating smartphones and other devices, Paul Walsh, founder of the refurbished tech seller WeSellTek, told Express.co.uk: “In most conditions, you can run as many apps as you want with very little risk of overheating. However, this all changes in extreme heat, which is why it’s so important to keep an eye on your phone’s performance.”

While many users may think that keeping their devices indoors may help to prevent overheating, this might not solve the problem. With the temperatures indoors rising as well, your device might not get a chance to cool itself down properly there either.

In addition to the warning, WeSellTek has shared some helpful tips to help prevent your smartphones from overheating. If you follow these tips, you’ll be able to reduce the risk of any temporary or permanent damage to your device in the current heat…

1. Turn off unused apps on your phone: Reducing the number of apps running on your device, including in the background, is a quick way to reduce your phone’s energy consumption, and reducing its overall temperature.

2. Turn the screen brightness down: In very sunny conditions, you might be tempted to turn the brightness all the way up to make it easier to see your screen. Avoiding this means your phone uses less energy to power the extra screen, which can keep it running cooler.

3. Avoid sunlight: While this might seem impossible with the current weather, keeping your phone out of direct sunlight, reduces the chances of the sun heating up your device.

4. Take off the case: Cases that are designed to prevent damage on falls typically retain heat very well due to the materials used. Temporarily taking your case off can cool your phone down, just like taking off a jumper.

5. Don’t be afraid to restart: Restarting your device removes lots of the local memory being used. It’s a quick way to reduce your phone’s power usage, and helps stop the device producing heat.

With all these tips, you might be worried that you can’t use your devices at all in this heatwave. That’s not the case at all, you can keep using your devices. Just bear some of this advice in mind, to avoid running into any potential problems.