A blanket of hot air stretching from the Mediterranean to the North Sea is giving much of western Europe its first heat wave of the summer, with temperatures forecast to top 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) from Malaga to London on Friday. Some areas are expected to see the mercury pass 40C (104F).
Germany's national weather service DWD predicted that the big sweat would continue over the weekend, as the heat moves eastward into central and eastern Europe.
