Record-breaking heat has descended on the Capital on a third consecutive day of hot, humid and hazy conditions.
The temperature hit 34.2 C. The old record for this day is 33.9 C.
A high heat and humidity warning is in effect for the Pontiac and Upper Gatineau from Wednesday until Friday, with humidity making the air feel over 40 C and nighttime lows near 20 C.
Environment Canada has a similar humidex advisory until Thursday for an area stretching from Belleville to Prescott and Russell to Pembroke, including Ottawa and Gatineau.
The City of Ottawa has issued its own heat warning through Thursday as well, put into place when Environment Canada forecasts a humidex of 40 C or more for two consecutive days.
Tourist Theresa Speake says she wasn't expecting the Capital to be so hot.
"As a matter of fact I was coming from Washington to get away from the heat, to come up to the nice cool Canada air," she said.
The heat was especially hard to cope with for residents of one Ottawa apartment building, where the power was turned of for routine maintenance.
There was no air conditioning on a day of record heat.
"It's nothing short of the Carribbean," said resident Jean Mimnagh. "It's beautiful I must admit when you have the air conditioning on and the electricity but without it ... it's just like a sauna bath."
Salvation Army workers hoped to bring homeless people some relief from the heat by handing them bottles of cold water.
JP Trottier of the Ottawa Paramedic Service said the heat is particularly dangerous for some age groups.
"The people most at risk are young children and elderly people because they have trouble controlling their internal conditions, so the heat affects them a lot quicker," he said.
Trottier said the heat can cause medical conditions like heat stroke, exhaustion and muscle cramps.
"What we see as paramedics is people who have pushed themselves too far," he said. "We want people to call 911 if anyone is disoriented by the heat or has hot, dry skin."
Other tips to stay safe include avoiding direct exposure to the sun, drink water (not caffeine and alcohol) and spend at least two hours in air conditioning.
Heat coming during school exam season
The Ottawa Carleton District School Board said it encourages schools to keep students inside during an Ottawa heat warning or heat emergency (humidex above 45 C for two consecutive days).
Out of 144 OCDSB schools, 36 have full air conditioning, 19 have more than 50 per cent A/C, 33 have less than 50 per cent A/C and 56 have no central air conditioning, according to an e-mail from the school board.
A group of students took some time off from studying and writing exams to cool off in a splash pad.
"We didn't have AC so we only have one fan...the people who sat at the back were sweaty, their papers were soaking too," said grade 9 student Jocelyn Tsang.
Other students sweated through the day at a track meet.
"It's super, super tiring," said student Nolan Mozer.
The weather should start to cool on Friday, with temperatures around 22 C forecasted through the weekend in Ottawa.
Wednesday is the first day of summer.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Vanessa Lee and Ellen Mauro
