Load .mat file variables without overwriting current variables of the same name

I have variables x and y in my workspace. Now I'd like to load a .mat file that contains variables named x and y. For example,

 x = 5; 
 y = 6; 
 load wind

How can I get variables x and y from wind.mat without overwriting my other variables named x and y. I want to do this without renaming my original x and y, and create wind_x and wind_y when loading wind.mat.

Answer 1

[Matt J]

You should always call LOAD with an output argument, regardless of whether you are worried about overwriting variables,

   S=load('wind');

    x2=S.x;
    y2=S.y;

[Chad Greene]

Brilliant. You've saved me some real headaches and finally answered a question I've had for some time. Thanks Matt.