A heat wave is sweeping parts of southern Europe and northwest Africa with potential record temperatures in the coming days.
Temperatures are expected to exceed 40C (104F) in parts of Spain, France, Greece, Croatia and Turkey.
In Italy, temperatures can reach 48.8C (119.8F). A red alert has been issued for 10 cities, including Rome, Bologna and Florence.
On Tuesday, a man in his forties died after collapsing in northern Italy.
Italian media reported that the 44-year-old worker was painting zebra lines in the town of Lodi, near Milan, before collapsing from the heat. He was taken to hospital where he later died.
“We are facing an unbearable heat wave,” Italian politician Nicola Fratoianni tweeted.
“Perhaps it is the case that in the hottest hours every useful precaution is taken to avoid tragedies like the one which occurred today in Lodi.”
People are advised to drink at least two liters of water a day and avoid coffee and alcohol, which dehydrate.
A group of tourists on the streets of Rome told Reuters they were using sprinklers and thermal water as part of their efforts to cool off.
“We are trying to survive,” said Mariko Desso, who was visiting from the southern city of Bari.
Several visitors to the country have already collapsed due to heatstroke, including a Brit outside the Colosseum in Rome.
Heatwave Cerberus – named by the Italian Meteorological Society after the three-headed monster that appears in Dante’s Inferno – is expected to bring extreme conditions over the next few days.
Spain was sweltering for days with temperatures up to 45C and overnight temperatures in much of the country did not drop below 25C. A satellite image taken by the Copernicus Sentinel mission revealed that the ground temperature in the Extremadura region reached 60C on Tuesday.
“It’s true that temperatures have risen, but much, much higher than in other years,” Madrid resident Alejandrina Coy told Reuters.
“I can see that it affects everyone a lot.
“The weather is becoming less linear, there is less difference between the seasons,” said Paz Lanez, another resident.
The Met Office says temperatures will peak on Friday and BBC Weather says large parts of southern Europe could see temperatures in the low to mid 40s – and possibly higher.
The heat is likely to continue into the weekend, with temperatures in Prague, the Czech capital, set to reach 36C (96.8F) on Saturday, according to BBC Weather – well above the July average of 24C (75.2F).
But as Cerberus disappears, Italian forecasters are warning that the next heatwave, called the Charon after the ferry that delivered souls to the underworld, will push temperatures back to 43C in Rome and a possible 47C on the island of Sardinia.
More than 60,000 people died in Europe as a result of the heat last year. The fear is that this heat wave could cause many more deaths this summer. On the Spanish island of Mallorca, the emergency hotline has had to deal with more than one case of heatstroke every day since May.
A heat wave is a period of hot weather when temperatures are higher than expected for the time of year.
Experts say periods of extremely hot weather are becoming more frequent and climate change means record temperatures are now normal.
The European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts said that globally this June was the hottest on record.