Temperatures soar in Western Europe

Temperatures are soaring in Western Europe as the heatwave continues to strengthen. The warm air is moving across the continent from North Africa, forcing the temperatures to rise.

In Paris, the temperatures climbed to 32C on Tuesday, and Wednesday and Thursday are expected to be its hottest days of the year so far.

Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands are also experiencing the heat, and warnings have been issued to the public.

In the UK, the warmest weather is confined to the southeast of England. London soared to 31C on Tuesday and the temperature is expected to climb a fraction higher on Wednesday.

Away from southeast England, there is more cloud across the rest of Britain and Ireland and the temperature is significantly lower.

Spain and Portugal have seen temperatures rise, but across the Iberian Peninsula it has been very hot for the past few months.

The temperature in Madrid has failed to reach 30C on only two occasions since the beginning of July. The latest heatwave is simply serving to make the hot weather even more unbearable.

Many residents in Western Europe do not have air conditioning in their homes, which makes the impact of heatwaves more serious than other parts of the world that are regularly subject to hot weather.

In 2003, a heatwave in Western Europe killed at least 35,000 people when it gripped the region in August.