A heatwave affecting much of Europe is expected to intensify further, with countries including France and Spain expecting temperatures above 40C (104F) later on Thursday.
On Wednesday Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic recorded their highest-ever temperatures for June.
Meteorologists say hot air drawn in from northern Africa is responsible.
The heat is expected to rise further in many countries over the next three days, meteorologists warn.
In Spain, 11 provinces in the east and centre of the country are set to experience temperatures above 40C.
In parts of the north-east, they may reach 45C on Friday. Spanish officials have also warned of a “significant risk” of forest fires in some areas.
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In Italy, health officials have issued the highest level of warning for several cities, including Rome.
The whole of France – where a heatwave in 2003 was blamed for 15,000 extra deaths -is now on orange alert, the second-highest warning level, and many cities have taken measures to deal with the effects of the heat.
In Paris fountains and sprinklers connected to hydrants have been set up. Some schools have delayed important exams and even closed to pupils.
In Toulouse, where temperatures are expected to reach 41C on Thursday, charities have been handing out water to homeless people.
The heat is also affecting France’s 72,000-strong prison population. François Bes, a prison monitor, told BFMTV that many detainees describe their cells as “ovens”.
“It’s impossible to create a draught because by definition prisoners can’t open the doors,” he is quoted as saying. One major prison near Paris, Fresnes, has decided to hose down the yard to cool it, BFMTV reports.
While the UK will avoid the worst heat, parts of the country – including London – are expected to see temperatures top 30C on Saturday.
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How hot was Wednesday?
Temperatures have been climbing in recent days – but are expected to get even hotter in some places towards the end of the week.
On Wednesday, Coschen in Brandenburg peaked at 38.6C – a new German record for June.
Radzyn in Poland and Doksany in the Czech Republic also recorded new national highs, with temperatures hitting 38.2C and 38.9C respectively.
Even in the high-altitude Alps, temperatures topped 30C in places. Parts of Switzerland and Austria recorded their local all-time highest temperatures ever.
In Austria June 2019 will be the warmest on records, meteorologists say.
Is climate change to blame?
Linking a single event to global warming is complicated.
While extreme weather events like heatwaves occur naturally, experts say these will happen more often because of climate change.
Records going back to the late 19th Century show that the average temperature of the Earth’s surface has increased by about one degree since industrialisation.
Source:Â bbc.com