Heat

 It's supposed to hit 93 F (34 C) tomorrow in my region of Germany.  Hottest day of the year so far.  Same temp predicted for Sunday, and then it'll chill off a couple of degrees.

I'll make ten observations over heat and Germany:

1.  Generally....folks can handle 30 C (86 F) without any extra measures.  After that point.....each evening is a long whine session about global warming, or extra measures they had to take to 'survive'.

2.  AC units are becoming very popular....but mostly the small units for a room or two.  In my village....I'd take a guess that 50-percent have either a house AC unit or a room unit.  

3.  The breaking point?  When you have a weather pattern that lingers....say for ten days (30 C or more)....that's usually where people boil over or things get messy.  A typical German summer is five or six periods of 30 C mixed with six periods of 25-to 28 C.  

4.  The typical method of 'cooling' a house?  You close all windows after the cooled-off evening, and shut the shutters around 10 AM.  Once things cool off at 10 PM....windows get open and the house 'cools' to some degree.

5.  Yes, people drink more beer in a hot summer period.  

6.  There's just not an average summer in Germany.  There are three 'cycles'....the harsh heat year, the cool summer year, or the average up and down year.  2003 for example....was the most extreme heat year of the past forty-odd years.

7.  Dehydration events?  They occur occasionally.