Firefighters battled wildfires in Turkey and France on Monday and more than 50,000 people were evacuated as an early summer heat wave hit Europe.
Health alerts were issued in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Germany.
Even the Netherlands, used to a milder climate, issued a warning for high temperatures in the coming days, coupled with high humidity.
According to exterts, large parts of Western Europe are experiencing extreme heat and heatwave conditions that are normally observed in July or August, rather than June.
Temperatures were in some locations 5-10 degrees Celsius warmer than they otherwise should have been at this time of the year.