The NHS has issued a warning after finding hand sanitiser has been the cause of a number of fires in vehicles during hot weather.
Nottingham will today (June 24) bake in temperatures of 31C amid a mini heatwave, leading to an urgent appeal being issued by fire services across the UK.
When alcohol-based hand sanitiser becomes hot, it releases flammable vapours which can then easily catch fire.
Hand gels have a flash-point (the lowest temperature in which the substance gives off vapours into the air around it) of around 21-24C.
The vapour in the air could however only be ignited by a spark, meaning problematic electrics in a vehicle could cause a fire.
With more and more people now carrying hand gels with them due to coronavirus, the NHS has issued a safety warning.
A Clinical Commissioning Group for the NHS in Coventry said: "We have received a number of reports of hand sanitiser being the cause of fires when left in vehicles in the hot weather the UK is currently experiencing.
"The alcohol hand sanitiser is becoming heated resulting in flammable vapours being released.
"Make sure to remove it."
