In the Netherlands, one municipality is spraying salted water on its roads to stop them from melting or cracking in the extreme heat. The salt extracts moisture from the air, which in turn cools the asphalt. Much of Germany's autobahn network has asphalt coated with a special substance that absorbs moisture more quickly, according to local authorities.

Austria's railway network has deployed an army of workers to paint a 5-kilometer stretch of rail track white. It wants to test whether the paint will help the steel tracks, which can expand and buckle during a heatwave, to stay cooler. The metal can rise to 70 degrees Celcius. Rail travelers near Blundenz, about 60 kilometers south of Lindau on Lake Constance shouldn't notice any difference.

Businesses face potential revenue losses if consumers sit out the sticky weather at home. Germany's Bayreuth Festival saw a wave of returned tickets for performances of composer Richard Wagner's operas due to a lack of air conditioning in the theater. The Berlin Dungeon, on the other hand, helped tourists to stay cool by filling coffins with icy water and inviting visitors to dunk their heads.

Europe's nuclear power stations rely on water from nearby rivers or seas to cool reactors used for electricity generation. A power plant at Grohnde, in central Germany, was due to be shut down on Friday afternoon because the water in the nearby Weser river was thought to be too hot. Lower Saxony's environment ministry said the plant would remain closed until the river temperature has fallen.

In the German city of Wuppertal, a water cannon truck has been put to what environmental activists would say is a much better use. Some 40,000 liters of water was sprayed on the side of roads to keep the much-loved trees alive, which city officials said also aids road safety. After all, falling dead trees are a danger to traffic. City workers have also distributed 400 water sacks to younger trees.

The heatwave has prompted a continent not known for air conditioning to consider, in unison, installing the temperature cooling devices. According to Google Trends, searches for air conditioning (Klimagerät in German, or climatisation in French) and similar terms have skyrocketed over the past week, along with "pubs with air conditioning near me" in Britain, which spiked 2,100%.

During exceedingly hot temperatures, European zoos have begun freezing their animals' food to help them stay cool. Fruit, vegetables and even fish have been turned into popsicles on which the animals can feast. In the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, the public has been asked to watch out for grazing horses, cattle and sheep left without sufficient water and shade.