Europe bakes again in near record temperatures

PARIS, FRANCE: Europe baked in near-record temperatures on Monday but hopes were for some respite after weeks of non-stop sunshine as people come to terms with what may prove to be the new normal in climate change Europe.

Here is a roundup of recent developments:

France, adapt to change Temperatures were expected to peak in southern France on Monday and further north on Tuesday. On Saturday, they hit their highest levels since a deadly 2003 heatwave killed thousands of mainly elderly people.

Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said people had to take proper care to cope with the heat and warned that everyone had to adapt.

"You need to drink a lot, but also to eat and take salt," Buzyn said.

"We are probably going to adapt our warnings in the coming years, because this is something we haven't been see- ing until now." Several cities imposed traffic restrictions and cut speed limits to try to reduce ozone pollution aggravated by the heat, with Paris also offering free parking and cheaper daily metro and bus passes to discourage driving.

The heat wave could be among the "top three" on record for France, the national weather service said.

The current forecast is for a cooler end to the week with temperatures in the mid-20s. Spain fires under control In Spain, the death toll rose to five after two homeless men succumbed to heat stroke in northeastern Taragona, officials said.

Firefighters helped by calmer winds were meanwhile gaining control of a wildfire in the southwestern province of Huelva, just across the border from the Algarve in southern Portugal where a major blaze was still burning in Monchique.

Temperatures remained high, especially in the southeast where they were forecast to hit 40-42 C.