How people cope with hot summer in Denmark

This is my first summer ever spent in Denmark. I have been an au pair for the whole summer in Finland a couple of years before, so I have some experience with Scandinavian weather but this time it is completely different. From what I have heard this year Denmark has noted the highest average temperatures in more than 70 years and more than sixty days of summer (with daily temperature above 20 degrees Celcius) already, which is kind of impressive for this region, compared to three weeks of summer last year ;P

At the beginning everyone was telling me that I am lucky to experience such a good weather here since May but now people are just complaining. That's why I decided to write How people cope with hot summer in Denmark (hint: they don't).

I live in Aalborg - not so big city (okay, big for a Danish standards) in northern Jutland, so I can mostly speak for this region but taking into consideration that Denmark is rather small and heterogenous, it probably looks similar in other regions as well.

So firstly, when the sun is out - everybody is out as well. There are two resons for that: at the beginning I thought Danes just have vitamin D deficiency, so they take any occasion to get out and catch some sun. But they are clearly divided into two groups - those who like and miss sun, and those that are happy with typical Danish weather and complain that it's too hot whenever the temperature reaches above 15 degrees. The second group can be typicaly described as pale blondes, getting easily sunburnt, so they try to avoid sun. But during the heatwave you can see everyone outside, either enjoying beer in a shade or trying some summer activites, simply because Denmark is a country of heating, not air condition, so it is very difficult to stay inside offices or apartmens during the day. I wish I was joking but in most shops all the electric fanc are sold out and people order them online, as they accepted the fact that this time summer won't go away after one week.

On the bright side: Denmark is surrounded by water - from any place you can get to some beach or fjord in the city with maximum 2 hours of driving, so swimming, paddleboarding, canoeing or trying other outdoor sports is very popular. You can even rent a board in the middle of the city and try it at the city beaches, which is very cool. During summer like this, usually empty beaches are full of people not afraid to jump into cold water.

Besides that, there are many outdoor activities like concerts, football games screenings, workshops or even yoga trainings to keep people entertained. For people that just want to relax there are parks to just lay down and do nothing. Fun fact: not only parks are full of people sunbathing on the blankets but people do that everywhere, personally I work close to the water and I see people sunbathing half-naked on the grass in front of my office or sitting and daydrinking on the grass from the fjord side. Nobody seems to care in this heatwave that it is a public place in the city center and wearing a bikini is not the greatest idea ;)

Obviously, if there's any discount on ice cream in shops, they are immediately sold out and you can see queues to ice cream shops anywhere in the city center. But even though I like summer and sun, I get why Danes are complaining so much - it is difficult to stay inside, even with all the windows open (where is the famous Danish wind when you need it? ;P) and currently there's almost no grass left, as everything is dried out and yellow. Besides, there's a ban for making barbecues and bonfires, given the last events in other countries with fire spreading across the country. So when the rain and thunderstorms will come this time, I will try not to whine and appreciate it after the longest summer Denmark has (maybe ever) had! 

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