LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Residents of western Europe turned to fans and fountains as they sweltered through a record-breaking heatwave Tuesday, with temperatures set to soar even further.

Hit by a so-called “heat dome” of warm air from northern Africa that is pushing the mercury well above normal levels for May, some Europeans even admitted they were considering getting air conditioning (AC), in a region famously averse.

Baking in a bright London sun, 47-year-old Gurjit Gill, who works in banking, said he was happy to be going into work — because of the air con.