Europeans Shiver, Wait For Summer - AP

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VIENNA, Austria - "Snowball fights in July. Mulled wine instead of wine coolers. Thermostats set on high. Spring has come and gone, fall approaches - and Europeans are still waiting for summer.

Much of the continent awoke to yet another day of chilly temperatures and rain Thursday, adding to the weeks of miserable weather gripping Europe from Scandinavia to parts of the Balkans. On Thursday, the mercury dipped as low as 46 degrees in Stockholm. The Swedes weren't the only ones with the midsummer shivers: Temperatures dropped to 50 in Geneva, 51 in Budapest, 53 in Warsaw and 52 in Copenhagen. And this on a continent that had feared a recurrence of last summer's deadly heat wave.

This year's May was fitful, and June promised a summer that could go either way. But except for southern Europe, July has been wet and almost glacial. On many days, temperatures have been half that of last year, when the mercury sat at 95 degrees or higher for weeks, resulting in crowded swimming pools, record ice cream sales, and stores emptied of fans and air conditioners.

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Instead of hiking, tourists in Germany's Bavarian Alps have worked up a sweat with snowball fights and sleigh rides after snowfalls that dusted peaks - and in some cases valleys under 6,500 feet. In central Germany's Thuringia forest, guests recently gathered for an open-air theater performance clasped icy fingers around cups of mulled wine usually served at winter apres ski parties. Apparently it's no attraction: Stefanie Loeser of the regional tourist office in Erfurt said cool temperatures and two weeks of rain have hit tourism hard.

Britons - whose summer weather is the envy of no one - have even less to laugh about than usual. The July cold snap prompted British Gas to put its winter emergency contingency plan into operation to meet a surge in demand as people turned on central heating. Shrewsbury in northwest England had a temperature of 53 degrees on July 8 - the coldest there ever for the month."

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http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/world/9170750.htm

[kestrel91316]

1. Hmmmmmmm, is it the day after tomorrow yet??