The French city of Bordeaux broke their 2003 record of 40.7°C when temperatures reached 41.2 °C on Tuesday, with forecasters predicting similar predicaments across Europe this week, including Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.
The majority of France has been tagged with an orange alert – the second-highest warning tier.
For Paris, Metro France warned of new highs this week that might beat the 40.4°C record in 1947. Belgium and Spain have similarly issued code red weather alerts, while temperatures in the UK are expected to exceed 35°C.
Extreme hot weather has also hit the United States. The National Weather Service has published a map of affected areas, stretching across Colorado and Kansas, to Washington and Boston in the East Coast. Neighbouring Canada has also issued similar heat warnings for Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia.
This week, Asia is also not spared as Japan clocked its highest temperature of 41.1°C on Monday, the same heatwave also spreading in nearby South and North Korea. Ten have died in South Korea of heatstroke or heat-related reasons this summer, including seven deaths last week.
According to a spokesperson from World Meteorological Organization, heatwaves are becoming more frequent, starting earlier and becoming more intense, adding that the events bore “the hallmark of climate change”.