Western Europe is bracing for record temperatures amid a heatwave which is thought to have claimed lives.
France may hit its highest-ever recorded temperature on Friday in the heatwave that has swept across the continent this week.
The current record is 44.1C (111.4F) – measured during a heatwave in 2003 which killed thousands of people.
In response, France’s national weather service has issued an unprecedented red alert warning for four areas.
Those are all in the south, but most of the country remains on orange alert, the second highest level.
Swathes of the continent are experiencing extreme heat. Germany, France, Poland and the Czech Republic have all recorded their highest-ever June temperatures.
In Spain firefighters are battling Catalonia’s worst wildfires in 20 years. Eight provinces are on red alert while temperatures are expected to rise above 42C in many areas.
The Italian ministry of health has reported emergency levels of heat in 16 cities.
Several people are believed to have lost their lives as a result of the extreme temperatures, including two who died from suspected heatstroke in Spain.
One, a 17-year-old farm worker in Córdoba, went into convulsions after cooling down in the farm swimming pool, while an 80-year-old man died on a street in the northern city of Valladolid.
In the UK, police warned people of the dangers of cooling off in rivers and lakes after a 12-year-old girl drowned in the River Irwell in Greater Manchester.
BBC
