Daily global temperatures reached an unofficial record high multiple times last week, according to at least one metric, and caused communities around the planet to take drastic measures to help people beat the heat.

A work stoppage in Beijing stretched into this week after a string of days where temperatures were higher than 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit).

In North Grenville, Ontario, the city repurposed hockey rinks into cooling centres as temperatures reached 32C (90F) and felt like 38C (100F) with humidity.

And the National Weather Service in the United States has issued heat advisories for a large swath of the continental US, amid heat-related hospitalisations in Austin and San Antonio, Texas, and recorded record-breaking temperatures in cities including: Portland, Oregon; Tampa, Florida; and El Paso, Texas.

People dove into bodies of water in Ukraine, Turkey and Spain. And climate scientists said that the record-setting heat is poised to continue as the planet keeps warming. Commenting on global temperature highs earlier this week, Stanford University climate scientist Chris Field said: “A record like this is another piece of evidence for the now massively supported proposition that global warming is pushing us into a hotter future.”