Sun-drenched tourists sought solace in the fountains of Rome and Tour de France cyclists peeled back their bodysuits yesterday as Europe shimmered in a blistering heat wave.
In Britain there was a chance temperatures would hit a symbolic 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37 Celsius) this week for the first time since records began.
The Welsh capital Cardiff was Britain's hottest city yesterday, recording a high of 31.3C.
France experienced a scorching Bastille Day, prompting thousands of Parisians to flock to the city's elegant parks and open air pools.
The heat seeped as far north as Finland, where the temperature hit 29.8C in the southeastern town of Utti. Meteorologists said the average there at this time of year is 19C.
The Swiss banned fishing in several of their cantons as the heat caused oxygen levels to drop, endangering the lives of trout in the country's rivers and streams. In some areas fish were being moved to oxygen-richer waters.
In neighbouring Germany, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper warned if Europe continues to experience hotter, drier weather, Berlin and the surrounding Brandenburg region could become a desert by the middle of this century.
"Already parts of Brandenburg have become Steppe-like," it said in a report on global warming.
In Rome, temperatures have been stuck above 35C for weeks, sapping the strength of the city's thousands of tourists. Weeks of hot weather in northern Italy have created drought in some areas, taking water from the River Po, an essential source of irrigation for the country's farms.
Only the Spaniards, used to scorching heat, seemed unfazed. The temperature hit 37.1C in Zaragoza but Spanish meteorologists said there was nothing unusual in that at this time of year. - (Reuters)