From mobile jungles to shadow art: how Dutch people try to beat the heat

H ouseholds in Amsterdam are being urged to hang their curtains outside their windows as health experts recommend simple hacks to moderate the heatwave rolling across the Netherlands , where homes were built for old-fashioned damp and coldish northern European weather. In a viral social media post last week, Eline Coolen, the heat coordinator at the city’s public health institute, urged sweaty city-dwellers to rig up temporary curtain rails or drape curtains or sheets outside to stop the sun’s rays reaching their large windows. The government, meanwhile, has activated a national heatwave plan , with advice on caring for elderly and vulnerable people, and researchers are trialling everything from fake trees to shadow art to cool down pavements and pedestrians. “In Dutch houses, but also in many houses in northern Europe , you have very big windows,” said Coolen. “We have always built for the winter, when you want as much sun and warmth in your house as possible. “But every year in Amsterdam alone, 110 people die because of the heat – and that could rise to as many as 600 in the future without serious measures.” People seek out shade in the garden of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. …