Southern Europe roasts as heat rises

A punishing heatwave gripped southern Europe yesterday, prompting authorities to issue health and wildfire warnings as temperatures are expected to soar again.

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France, Italy, Portugal and Spain have been sweltering for several days as the mercury climbed to 44 degrees Celsius in some places.

"This is unprecedented," Agner Pannier-Runacher, France's ecology transition minister said as a record 84 of the nation's 96 mainland departments were placed on the second-highest "orange' heat alert.

Only a small sliver of the country in the northwest was not sweltering, according to the Meteo France weather service, which said the heatwave was due to peak today and tomorrow.

The summer's first major heatwave has seen authorities in the countries along the Mediterranean’s northern coast urging people to seek shelter.

Ambulances stood on standby near tourist hotspots as experts warned that such heatwaves, intensified by climate change, would become more frequent.

Firefighters were on standby after blazes broke out on Sunday in France and Turkey, fed by the heat and strong winds.