In Pictures: How people in Budapest are keeping cool amidst heatwave

Krisztina plays with her children on their balcony in Budapest, Hungary (Anna Szilagyi/AP)

Inflatable swimming pools are the new must-have item around Budapest as residents of Hungary’s sprawling capital struggle to stay cool amid one of the most oppressively hot summers in the country’s history.

The pools have been popping up everywhere — in shared, open spaces outside apartment buildings, on small balconies, but also in the backyards of suburban houses where surrounding greenery cannot mitigate the heat.