Heading to camp, cooling off, stormy afternoons, and visiting the ice cream vendor must mean a change of seasons. The northern hemisphere a week ago marked the summer solstice, the day with the most sunlight of the year and the official kickoff for summer. -- Lloyd Young -- Editors' note: The Big Picture is taking next week off and will begin posting again on Monday, July 8. ( 40 photos total)
A girl takes a cold shower in order to refresh herself at Ada Ciganlija lake in Belgrade, Serbia, on June 20. The Balkan region is experiencing a heat wave, with temperatures rising as high as 37 degrees Celsius (99 Fahrenheit). (Marko Drobnjakovic/Associated Press)
Joe Zhoe waits for an ice cream cone with his daughter Joe Anne Zhoe in the Lower East Side neighborhood of New York City on June 25. Temperatures were expected to reach 90 degrees today, as a heat wave descends on the city. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images) #
A boy jumps into the water of a public swimming pool in Hanover, central Germany, on June 17. Meteorologists forecast temperatures up to 30 degrees Celsius and even more for wide parts of the country. (Julian Stratenschulte/AFP/Getty Images) #
People look at the horizon soon after sunrise on June 21 from the rocky crest filled with astronomical markers at the megalithic observatory of Kokino during the summer solstice. The ancient astronomic observatory, located about 100 km northeast of Skopje, dates back to more than 4,000 years ago. (Robert Atanasovski/AFP/Getty Images) #
A woman is prepared to take part in a ceremony to celebrate the summer solstice in the San Andres Archeological Park, in San Juan Opico, 32 km west from San Salvador, El Salvador on June 22. The summer solstice marks the start of the summer in the northern hemisphere. (Jose Cabezas/AFP/Getty Images) #
A large gathering of people participate in a free yoga class in Times Square as way to celebrate the summer solstice in New York City on June 21. Organizers were expecting over a thousand people to participate in three yoga classes throughout the day. (Andrew Gombert/European Pressphoto Agency) #
Revelers gather to celebrate the eve of summer solstice within the circle of standing stones at Stonehenge, near Salisbury, Britain, on June 20. Thousands annually meet at the 5,000 year old stone circle at Stonehenge to see in the sunrise of the summer solstice which marks the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. (Kerim Okten/European Pressphoto Agency) #
People take part in the Ivan Kupala festival near the town of Rakov, some 45 km (28 miles) west of Minsk June 22. The traditional festival celebrates the summer solstice with overnight festivities such as people singing and dancing around campfires, as they believe it will purge them of their sins and make them healthier. (Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters) #
A lightning storm rolls across the sky on June 17 in Odessa, Texas. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which collects its information at the Odessa-Schlemeyer Field, there will be chances of thunderstorms all day Tuesday then returns to sunny skies with the temperature in the mid to high 90s. (Edyta Blaszczyk/Odessa American via Associated Press) #
A ferris wheel is reflected in raindrops on a windshield of a car during a storm on June 26 during the Garrard County Fair near Bryantsville, Ky. (Clay Jackson/The Advocate Messenger via Associated Press) #
A halo around the sun is seen over the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., on June 18. Known as a 22 degree halo, or a sun halo, it is caused by sunlight passing through ice crystals in cirrus clouds within the Earth's atmosphere, according to Darren Van Cleave, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Sacramento. (Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press) #
Elvis impersonator Cristian Morales wipes sweat from his brow while standing out on The Strip posing for photos with tourists on June 27 in Las Vegas. Morales preferred to stand out in the 112 degree heat of the day instead of working the cooler evening hours saying "We'd much rather fight with the sun than fight with the drunk people." A high pressure system parking over the West is expected to bring temperatures this weekend and into next week that are extreme even for a region used to baking during the summer. (Julie Jacobson/Associated Press) #
Bartlett Parks and Recreation Department employee Olen Nails cools off under a stream of water on June 19 while helping to fill Flaherty Municipal Center pond with catfish for next weekend's fish rodeo in Bartlett, Tenn. The warm weather is expected to continue through the weekend with little chance of rain to help cool off. (Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal via Associated Press) #
Three schoolgirls make a dash for the exit of their school on the last school day as they break for the summer holidays in Berlin, Germany, on June 18. Berlin is the first German state to start the school summer holidays. The girls will make the return journey back to classes on Aug. 5. (Stephanie Pilick/European Pressphoto Agency) #
A gril draws on a blackboard on the left bank low-level quai sides after a reorganization process on June 19 in Paris. The project, headed by Paris's Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, converted the 2.3 km Seine river left banks between the Pont Royal (Royal bridge) and Alma bridge into a walkway area and structured them around major themes such as nature, culture, and sport, planned to be ready for summer 2013. (Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty Images) #
A Kashmiri girl enjoys a ride on a merry-go-round at a circus in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, on June 23. The circus is underway at an upcoming shopping mall in the city and is quite popular with people, especially children, on weekends. (Farooq Khan/European Pressphoto Agency) #
Palestinian boy, Mahmoud Haniyeh, looks out a bus window as he leaves a summer camp organized by Hamas movement in Gaza City on June 16. Tens of thousands of children from the Gaza Strip spend at least part of their holidays in special summer camps, arranged around a wide array of activities. Some, organized by the United Nations, offer sports, art and dance classes. Others, laid on by Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas, include fun and games, while seeking to reinforce religious values and awareness of the conflict with Israel. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters) #
Palestinian girl, Alaa Soboh, participates in a dance lesson with her supervisor during a United Nations run summer fun games in Gaza City on June 17. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters) #
A boy jumps into a water canal to cool himself with others on a hot day in the eastern city of Lahore on June 9. Temperatures reached 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit) in Lahore as weather remained hot and dry in other parts of the country, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department. (Mohsin Raza/Reuters) #
A paddler plies the waters of Shoshone Lake in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. on June 21 during a five-day trip to the Shoshone Geyser Basin. With snow retreating from all but the highest peaks, summer season in the world's first national park is in full swing. (Angus M. Thuermer Jr./Jackson Hole News & Guide via Associated Press) #
Backdropped by the French alps, kids jump into Lake Geneva, enjoying the sunny and warm weather in Lutry Beach, near Lausanne, southwestern Switzerland, on June 16. 2013. (Laurent Gillieron/European Pressphoto Agency) #
People sunbathe and enjoy the nice weather at la Malvarrosa beach in Valencia, eastern Spain, on June 16. (Kai Foersterling/European Pressphoto Agency) #
People relax along the waterfront in lower Manhattan on the first official day of summer on June 21 in New York City. Following an unusually damp Spring, New York, and much of the east coast, is expecting sunny skies and warm weather for the weekend. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) #
Jack Krenzke, 4, also known as Captain Underpants, thinks as he attempts to help his brother, Kyle Krenzke, 8, with a worksheet problem in Barton, Wisc., on June 11. The two were outside as their mother, Emily Krenzke, worked on some landscaping outside of a building she rents. (John Ehlke/The Daily News via Associated Press) #
A woman reads a book and enjoys the sunny weather at the beach in Scheveningen, The Netherlands, on May 6 as summer temperatures arrive in much of central Europe. (Robin Utrecht/European Pressphoto Agency) #
A mother and child stand in the in shallow waters along the banks of the Schlachtensee Lake to cool off from temperatures reaching up to 30 degrees Celsius, in Berlin, Germany, on June 20. (Ole Spata/European Pressphoto Agency) #
Lea Barcak laughs as she plays in bubbles during The Woodlands Recreation Center's Sunny Dayz Summer Camp on June 26 in Woodlands, Texas. (Jason Fochtman/Conroe Courier via Associated Press) #
An elephant is sprayed with water to cool it off at the Blijdorp Zoo in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, on June 19. (Jerry Lampen/European Pressphoto Agency) #
A herdsman riding a horse directs a large herd of cattle, sheep and goat as they migrate to the summer pasturing areas at a mountainous region in Altay Prefecture, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region on June 13. (Reuters) #
A man holds a long-tailed mayfly (Palingenia longicauda) at Tisza river near Tiszainoka, 135 km (84 miles) southeast of Budapest on June 23. Millions of these short-lived mayflies engage in a frantic rush to mate and reproduce before they perish in just a few hours during "Tiszaviragzas" or Tisza blooming season from late spring to early summer every year. (Laszlo Balogh/Reuters) #
Saint Bernard dogs and a staff member of the Barry Foundation, Manuel Gaillard, are on the way to the Great St. Bernard Pass (Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard) after returning from the winter quarters in Martigny, Switzerland, on June 17. The dogs will spend the summer on the pass and return to Martigny by the end of the year. (Jean-Christophe Bott/European Pressphoto Agency) #
An Indian child sits on a lychee tree as he takes rest at a lychee garden in the Gahi village about 20 km from the northern Indian city of Jammu the winter capital of Kashmir on June 11. Lychees are the most renowned of a group of edible fruit of the soapberry family Sapindaceae. Lychees are known to be a cooling fruit in the heat and are strongly in demand in the hot summer season. (Jaipal Singh/European Pressphoto Agenncy) #
Jan Rake lies on an air mattress relaxing in the sun in the Outer Alster Lake in Hamburg, Germany, on June 18. (Bodo Marks/European Pressphoto Agency) #
Women wearing 'Yukata' summer kimono's attend the annual Himeji Yukata Festival on June 22 in Himeji, Japan. The Himeji Yukata Festival is one of biggest festivals in western Japan, and was started by Himeji lord Sakakibara Masamune over 250 years ago. (Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images) #
Women from Belarus wear wreaths during the Ivan Kupala festival near the town of Rakov, some 45 km (28 miles) west of Minsk, on June 22. The traditional festival celebrates the summer solstice with overnight festivities such as people singing and dancing around campfires as they believe it will purge them of their sins and make them healthier. (Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters) #
Pedestrians enjoy the music as they pass by an apartment with a DJ playing loud music over a balcony, as part of the annual 'Fete de la Musique' (Music Day) in Paris, France, on June 21. The 'Fete de la Musique' is a tradition marking the first day of summer, during which music is encouraged to be played outdoors, in public, by both professional acts and amateurs alike. (Yoan Valat/European Pressphoto Agency) #
People take part in a group yoga practice on the morning of the summer solstice in New York's Times Square on June 21. The "Solstice in Times Square" event on Friday brought out thousands of participants to celebrate the year's longest day in New York. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters) #
A Palestinian child washes his brother on Deir Al-Balah beach, Gaza Strip, on June 27. The beach provides Gazans with relief from the heat. (Ali Ali/European Pressphoto Agency) #
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