Cool rooms, pools and water fountains – Paris activates emergency heat plan

With temperatures predicted to climb to 42C on Thursday, we look at what measures the city of Paris is taking to make its citizens more comfortable.

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Cool rooms

Public spaces such as town halls and government offices will open up air conditioned rooms to people who need them. There will be 50 air conditioned spaces open every day from 2pm to 6pm, and elderly or infirm people can request to be driven to their nearest cool room. To find out more about your nearest room, there is a dedicated number to call – 3975.

There will also be cool spaces in public areas, with Gare de Lyon, Beaugrenelle and Opéra piloting 'islands of freshness' which involve benches in shady spots and misters spraying cool water vapour into the air.

Water

Paris has plenty of drinking water fountains and actual fountains where people can either have a drink or stay under the spray to cool off. An app – Extrema Paris – will allow you to look up where your nearest water station is. In total the app lists 922 places that are either cool, shady or have free water available.

If a fountain isn't enough, you could always go swimming, many pools are staying open until 10.30pm all week and from July 1st the free open air pool at the Bassin de la Vilette will be open.

Parks

When the streets of Paris are baking, the natural response is to head to the park. To ensure people have a cool space for as long as possible, many parks will be staying open 24/7. Thirteen parks will be staying open all night over the summer, plus an extra five just for the days of the heatwave.