Europe Struggles to Keep its Cool Amid Scorching Summer Heat

After a summer heatwave blasted Europe with temperatures over 30 degrees Celsius (86 F) everywhere from Italy to northern Germany amid wildfires in Scandinavia and Greece, the locals rushed to rivers, lakes, canals, sea coasts and into the shade to cool down and escape the burning sun.

This how July 2018 feels like in Europe: Sweden has issued a warning for extremely hot weather; Belgium has marked the beginning of a heatwave as the stem of the thermometer has crawled above 30 degrees; Scotland faces record-breaking heat and  Italy experiences temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius. Check out how the continent and its residents are coping with the heat in Sputnik's gallery.

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© AFP 2023 / Tolga Akmen

A crowd strives to cool off at the mixed-pond on Hampstead Heath in London while Britain rides out its longest heatwave in decades.

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© REUTERS / Fabian Bimmer

Bathing by the Baltic Sea beach in the northern German city of Travemuende.

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© AFP 2023 / Belga / Nicolas Maeterlink

A man jumping into a canal in central Brusselsr to cool off at the start of a heatwave.

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© AFP 2023 / Andreas Solaro

As Italy is experiencing its first summer heat wave, with temperatures approaching 40 degrees Celsius, tourists cooling themselves in the water of the Trevi Fountain in central Rome, repeating Fellini's iconic scene.

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© REUTERS / Yves Herman

A boy trying to cool off in a fountain on a hot summer day in Brussels, Belgium.

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© Ben Birchall/PA

A woman trying to escape the heatwave on the beach in South Wales, UK.

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© AFP 2023 / Bertrand Guay

Paris' post-card Fontaine du Trocadero in front of The Eiffel Tower turned into a safe haven amid a heatwave in Europe.

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© AP Photo / Bob Edme

A girl cooling off in southwestern France's Bayonne.

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© AP Photo / Andrew Matthews

Bournemouth beach after the heatwave covered England's Dorset.

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© REUTERS / Arnd Wiegmann

Germans jumping away from hot weather into Lake Zug in Switzerland.

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© AFP 2023 / Tobias Schwarz

Escaping hot weather under the water jets of sprinklers and fountains near the Chancellery in Berlin, as temperatures are expected to reach 32 degrees Celsius.

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© REUTERS / Fabrizio Bensch

Hiding in the shade on a hot sunny summer day at Berlin's Wannsee lido.

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© AFP 2023 / Paul Zinken

Drone-view at bathers at the public beach of the Wannsee lake in Berlin.

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© AFP 2023 / Bertrand Guay

Girls chilling at the Fontaine du Trocadero in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

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© AFP 2023 / Friso Gentsch

Keeping a tapir cool from temperatures around 35 degrees Celsius at the zoo in Osnabrueck in northern Germany.

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© AFP 2023 / TT News Agency/Hossein Salmanzadeh

Sunbathing in the center of the Swedish capital Stockholm.

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© REUTERS / Fabian Bimmer

Sunbathing by the Baltic Sea beach in Timmendorfer Strand in Germany.

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© AFP 2023 / Bertrand Guay

Paris' post-card Fontaine du Trocadero in front of the Eiffel Tower turned into a cool haven amid a heatwave in Europe.

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© AFP 2023 / Andreas Solaro

A tourist shading herself in central Rome amid Italy's first Summer heat wave with temperatures approaching 40 degrees Celsius.