Supermarket plans sleepover as Finland swelters

A supermarket chain in Finland is inviting customers to spend the night at its air-conditioned store in Helsinki as Europe suffers through a heatwave.

K-Supermarket said on its Facebook page that patrons hoping to cool down could stay overnight at the northern Helsinki branch on Saturday and also get supper and breakfast on request.

Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat quoted operations manager Marika Lindfors saying the idea for the sleepover came from customers who "told me half-jokingly that it'd be a great thing to be able to sleep at a cool supermarket."

Lindfors said: "We always try to respond to client feedback, so why not here, too?"

Apartments and homes in Finland are equipped to deal with the extreme cold and damp typical of the Nordic region, but few have air conditioning.

Much of Europe is experiencing weeks of unusually hot weather.