A new June heat record has been set in Britain for the second day in a row, with temperatures rising to 36.4 degrees Celsius in a village in southwest Somerset, up from 36.1 on Wednesday.
In the capital, London, 642 emergency calls were made on Wednesday about serious heat-related health problems such as severe shortness of breath and cardiac arrest, the highest number of "life-threatening emergency calls" linked to heat in a single day, according to the ambulance service.
In France, extreme heat warnings have been issued for large parts of the country. The French teachers' union is calling for a strike to protest "unacceptable working conditions."
A three-year-old boy was found dead in an overheated car in the Paris area. Earlier this week, two children, aged two and four, were found dead in a hot car in a parking lot in southern France.
Reactors shut down
Two French nuclear reactors have been shut down. The water in the rivers used to cool them has become too warm. One reactor has been shut down for some time and, in neighboring Switzerland, operations at a nuclear power plant have been scaled back, also citing cooling problems.
In France, Germany and several other countries, there are reports of an unusually high number of drowning accidents.
Extensive thunderstorms have followed in the wake of the heat and several forest fires have broken out on the continent.
Towards record temperatures
For more than 380 million Europeans, temperatures will be at least 30 degrees Celsius on Thursday.
In Germany, temperatures are expected to reach a maximum of 37 degrees Celsius and to exceed 40 degrees Celsius by the weekend. The highest temperature recorded in Germany in June is 39.6 degrees Celsius, but that record is expected to be broken in the coming days.
Train companies in Germany are warning passengers that fires and storms could affect services. Outdoor sporting events, including a half marathon in Hamburg, have been cancelled, citing health risks.
In Spain, at least 212 deaths that occurred between Sunday and Wednesday are linked to the heat wave.
Climate change is driving up temperatures, especially in Europe, where warming is estimated to be about twice as fast as the global average.
