Health and fire warnings have been issued in countries across southern Europe, with temperatures expected to exceed 40C in some places this weekend. Among those countries affected are France, Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal as well as across to the Balkans including Croatia.

Hot air from North Africa is contributing to the soaring temperatures. The Spanish city of Seville, dubbed the "frying pan of Spain", is forecast to hit 42C on Sunday (June 29). The heatwave is "very intense" for this time of year, BBC Weather has explained, with Europe normally experiencing such high temperatures in July and early August, not late June. France, in particular, has been experiencing a heatwave for over a week. Orange heat alerts, the country's second-highest warning, were issued for southern regions on Friday.

In the city of Marseille, municipal swimming pools have been opened free of charge until the end of the heatwave, while there have been calls in some places for schools to close to prioritise students' health.

On Saturday, state services in Vaucluse, in the heart of Provence, were forced to implement restrictions on forest areas due to forest fire risks. In the massifs (mountain mass) of, for example, Bollene-Uchaux, Rasteau-Cairanne and the Basse Durance hills, while access and work were possible on Saturday, it was recommended that activities be done in the morning due to the high temperatures. Many of these restrictions will also be in place on Sunday.

Alexandra Gary, 56, who lives in the Basse Durance hills massif region, told the Express: "We got up at five to get some exercise before nine this morning due to the heat.

"We have been inside since then with the windows and shutters tightly shut! It's now seven in the evening and still too hot in the sun."

The picture is much the same elsewhere in Europe, illustrated in weather maps by WXCharts, which suggest temperatures went above 40C in southwestern Spain earlier on Saturday. In Spain, emergency staff have been placed on standby to deal with a surge in heatstroke cases, especially among vulnerable people, including children, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses.

Italian authorities advised residents in several cities, including Rome, Milan and Venice, to stay indoors between 11am and 6pm local time.

"There is no wind, a lot of humidity, we are sweating, and I'm suffocating at night," Alejandra Echeverria, a 40-year-old Mexican tourist in Venice, told AFP.

Meanwhile, wildfires have already struck some parts of Europe, including Greece, where coastal towns near Athens erupted in flames that destroyed homes and forced people to evacuate.