While thousands of people have been enjoying the heatwave, for many others the high temperatures are causing misery at night.

Restless nights can leave you feeling tired and unrefreshed and make facing a long day at work unbearable, so our reporter Siobhan Ryan investigates what you can do to encourage peaceful slumber.

Medical experts warn chronic sleep deprivation significantly affects a person's ability to think clearly and accurately.

Their reactions may be impaired and normal movement affected.

Even in the short term, it can also make people liable to mood swings and depression.

This month's unusually high temperatures are giving people no let up from the scorching heat of the day, making it almost impossible for many to get a decent night's sleep.

The end of the heatwave may now be in sight as temperatures gradually begin to dip but the South-East is expected to stay hot for the rest of the week.

The obvious answer would be to open a bedroom window.

But those lucky enough to be able to do so have to contend with a myriad of bugs flying in and risk being bitten or stung.

If they live on a noisy street, they can be kept awake by passers-by, cars or people spilling out from nearby pubs.

The close atmosphere can often mean there is no difference when the window is open as there is no breeze.

People often wake in the morning feeling hot, tired and unrefreshed before the long day ahead.

The impact on health of not getting enough sleep, coupled with having to work as normal during the heatwave, can be serious.

Horsham-based GP James Parker said: "I deal with a lot of patients who suffer from problems like insomnia or sleep apnoea, which is when they can sometimes stop breathing for a moment while asleep.

"Having long-term problems like this affects their general health and well-being and can be serious.

"A couple of nights having problems would probably not be too much of a worry but if it goes on for longer then people will be affected by it."

Tom Foster, who runs a Lewes-based design company, said: "When the heatwave first started staff were fine but after the first week they were getting more tired.

"A few have complained about not being able to sleep at night but the work is still going on. I've had problems myself. It is difficult when you get up in the morning after a restless night still feeling tired."

Reducing your night-time sleep by as little as one-and-a-half hours could result in a reduction of daytime alertness by as much as 32 per cent.

During sleeping hours the body naturally reboots itself so lack of sleep can allow the immune system to run down.

The average amount of sleep needed each day is 16 to 20 hours for a newborn baby, 13 hours for a two-year-old, ten to 11 hours for a five-year-old, nine to ten hours for a ten-year-old, seven to eight hours for an adult and five hours for an 80-year-old.