Europe is bracing for another day of an unprecedented heatwave that is making life on the continent unbearable. The extreme weather is being driven by atmospheric and circulation patterns that keep hot air trapped in place for days, causing temperatures to continue to slowly creep up, with these factors worsened by global warming. France's national temperature indicator - an average of daytime and nighttime temperatures across 30 stations - reached 29.8C on Tuesday, the hottest since measurements began in 1947.This week's heat has already claimed lives, including two brothers aged two and four who died in a family car in the French town of Carpentras on Monday. The Carpentras prosecutor's office said, that according to the initial autopsy results, the children died 'from exposure to excessive heat... subject to the results of further analyses currently underway'.The children's mother has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after giving conflicting versions of events to police as to how they got locked in the car. Sales of fans and air conditioners meanwhile skyrocketed across France, where most buildings are not designed to deal with extreme heat.On Monday, hypermarket operator Carrefour had sold 30,000 units by 6.30pm - 'a thousand times more than on a normal day', chief executive Alexandre Bompard said.Sales on Amazon nearly doubled last week compared with the same period last year, whilst electronics outlet Fnac Darty reported double-digit growth.'It's difficult to live alone and without air conditioning,' said Martine Belloc, a 62-year-old retiree in Bordeaux.