The Italian government has opened an investigation into whether a heatwave scorching the country for three months had led to more elderly people dying, after reports that deaths had leapt by 20 per cent.
Neighbouring France reckons the weather has claimed about 10,000 lives and the Portuguese government said some 1,300 had died from the stifling temperatures. Italians will have to wait almost two weeks for their national figures.
Italy has been sweltering in temperatures as high as 40 degrees since the beginning of June, and while other parts of Europe have cooled off, the heat is still on for Italians.
Heat-related deaths in Italy, as elsewhere in Europe, have been concentrated in the large cities, where the old and handicapped often spend August alone, while the rest of the population flees to the mountains or the seaside.
In the northern town of Genoa, priests have taken the step of allowing funerals on Sundays due to the high demand.
Authorities in Turin and Florence are considering a special tax on residents that will be used to aid the elderly, with some even suggesting the proceeds be used to install air conditioning in retirement homes and individual apartments.