In PHOTOS: Europe, US cool off the summer heat

Photographs: Laszlo Balogh/Reuters

The Northern Hemisphere is sizzling like an ant under a magnifying glass.

Europe is sweltering in heat, with temperatures staying over 30 degrees Celsius in Hungary, Italy and Bulgaria. Hungarian capital Budapest broke the country's heat record this year. In Russia's Far East, firefighters are still battling over 26 forest fires.

Elsewhere in United States, 13 people have died so far in the heat wave. According to weather forecasters, the heat wave will reach Washington and New York in the next few days, with air temperatures rising over 40 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, people residing in the northern hemisphere are finding ways to cool off.

Take the case of this woman, who preferred to take a plunge in Lake Balaton near Tihany 150 km west of Budapest to escape the heat.

Click on NEXT for more PHOTOS...

Europe, US cool off the summer heat

Image: Makayla Martin, 9, cools off at a fire hydrant in St Louis, Missouri, US. The area has been under a heat advisory as temperatures hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius)
Photographs: Sarah Conard/Reuters

Europe, US cool off the summer heat

Image: A boy jumps into the water at Kosciuszko Pool in Brooklyn on a hot summer day in New York
Photographs: Lucas Jackson/Reuters

Europe, US cool off the summer heat

Image: Biker Jordan Richardson seeks relief from high temperatures near Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis, US. A heat wave with oppressive temperatures and stifling humidity lingered and intensified in the midsection of the country and was expected to expand eastward as the week continued
Photographs: Eric Miller/Reuters

Europe, US cool off the summer heat

Image: A man and a dog drink water from a fountain during a sunny day in Prague as temperatures hovered over 28 degrees Celsius
Photographs: David W Cerny/Reuters

Europe, US cool off the summer heat

Image: Tommy Fowler (Left) shields himself from the sun as he waits to board a bus during a prolonged heat wave in Dallas, Texas
Photographs: Mike Stone/Reuters

Europe, US cool off the summer heat

Image: People cool off in Dambovita river in central Bucharest as temperatures reached 36 degree Celsius (96.8 degree Fahrenheit) in southern Romania
Photographs: Bogdan Cristel/Reuters

Europe, US cool off the summer heat

Image: A man cools off in Dambovita river in central Bucharest as temperatures reached 36 degree Celsius (96.8 degree Fahrenheit) in southern Romania
Photographs: Bogdan Cristel/Reuters

Europe, US cool off the summer heat

Image: People ride water chutes in an Aqua arena in Mogyorod near Budapest
Photographs: Laszlo Balogh/Reuters

Europe, US cool off the summer heat

Image: A woman sits by the rocks at the Ramizzo beach in the so called 'Emerald Coast' of the Sardinia island in Italy
Photographs: Max Rossi/Reuters

More