The mercury level has exceeded 40C in places and the hot weather is likely to continue into next week. A number of deaths have already occurred due to the heat, according to reports.
Meteoalarm, a pan-European operation made up of dozens of national weather services, has warned that “major damage and accidents are likely, in many cases with threat to life”.
It has issued red alerts, considered “very dangerous” and meaning “exceptionally intense meteorological phenomena are forecast”, for parts of Italy, Switzerland, Croatia and Poland. Also, orange alerts, which mean dangerous weather is expected, were in place in Spain, southern France, Greece and much of the Mediterranean.
Farmers have also warned that the intense heat will have a significant impact on crops, while experts say the worst could be yet to come.
Painting an ominous picture, scientists have said Europe’s death toll from weather disasters could rise 50-fold by the end of this century, with extreme heat alone killing more than 150,000 people a year by 2100 if nothing is done to curb the effects of climate change.
In a study in The Lancet Planetary Health journal, the scientists said their findings showed climate change placing a rapidly increasing burden on society, with two in three people in Europe likely to be affected if greenhouse gas emissions and extreme weather events are not controlled.
The predictions, based on an assumption of no reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and no improvement in policies to reduce the impact of extreme climatic events, show European weather-related deaths rising from 3,000 a year between 1981 and 2010 to 152,000 a year between 2071 and 2100.
Lead scientist Dr Giovanni Forzieri, from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Italy, said: “Unless global warming is curbed as a matter of urgency and appropriate measures are taken, about 350mn Europeans could be exposed to harmful climate extremes on an annual basis by the end of the century.”
The study analysed the effects of the seven most harmful types of weather-related disaster – heat waves, cold waves, wildfires, droughts, river and coastal floods and windstorms – in the 28 countries of the European Union, plus Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.
The findings suggested heat waves would be the most lethal weather-related disaster and could cause 99 per cent of all future weather-related deaths in Europe – rising from 2,700 deaths a year between 1981 and 2010 to 151,500 deaths a year in 2071 to 2100.
Southern Europe is most at risk. The study predicts this region could see 700 deaths per million people due to extreme weather events by the end of the century.
Northern countries, including the UK, appear a bit safer, with three weather-related deaths for every million people predicted.
“The Paris agreement is our best chance at tackling greenhouse emissions which drive climate change,” Bob Ward, policy and communications director at Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change, told Sky News.
He also warned against a “Donald Trump scenario” where we “just give up”.