No Relief For Sweltering Europe

Millions across Europe are seeking refuge from searing temperatures .The high temperatures that have scorched Europe for the past two weeks are unlikely to drop until mid-August, forecasters say.Temperatures across the continent have regularly exceeded 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).  The number of deaths blamed on the heatwave reached 39 on Saturday.  Fires fuelled by hot winds have destroyed woodland from Portugal to the Netherlands and Greece.  In the Paris area - where temperatures are on a par with Mecca in Saudi Arabia - firefighters say they are dealing with 600 calls every day for people suffering from the heat.
Paris department stores reported a run on portable electric fans as people desperately sought refuge from the scorching weather.  One of the city's tourist attractions, the Catacombs, has been turning away visitors - such is the demand for the chill inside. Zurich revelled in the heat at the city's annual street parade


In Britain, tourists were disappointed when the London Eye - a big Ferris wheel on the bank of the Thames river - remained closed because of heat that would have made the glass capsules unbearable.  However the heat wave did not halt the annual Street Parade in Zurich, Switzerland, where scantily-clad revellers danced to one of the world's biggest techno-music parties.  German TV reported on Friday a temperature of 40.8C in the western Saarland region - the hottest since records began in 1901.  In Italy, the state-funded CNR research centre said the weather conditions would probably continue into September and described the heat wave as one of the five worst in 150 years.


The BBC's environment correspondent, Tim Hirsch, says this week's weather fits a global trend which has seen previous records shattered with increasing regularity. In nine out of the past 12 years, average temperatures worldwide have been higher than at any time since records began in the 19th century .