Weather agencies recorded temperatures of more than 35C in several European countries, where more than 135 million people had been forecast to endure such weather."The heat has been unbearable here, honestly," said pharmacist Bailey Williamson, voicing concern for hospital patients as the UK saw its fifth-hottest day on record.Europe is the planet's fastest-warming continent and in some places is ill-equipped to deal with hot weather.Repeated heatwaves and drought have fuelled a historically hot summer of wildfires, and contributed to the deaths of thousands of people so far. Scientists blame ever hotter and more frequent heatwaves on human-caused climate change.Temperatures were set to surpass 30C for nearly three out of five European residents (excluding Turkey) -- around 340 million people -- according to an analysis based on German weather service forecasts and 2025 population projections from the Joint Research Centre.AFP's findings are consistent with those of Austrian NGO Klimadashboard.Patients suffering in UKIn London, temperatures hit 38.1C at Kew Gardens, making it the fifth-hottest day on record for the UK, according to official weather agency the Met Office.Williamson, 20, who works for the National Health Service (NHS), said the heat was hitting patients in hospital hard."People in beds are really, really sick, and they can't even breathe because of the heat problem -- so it's really bad," he said.
Millions of Europeans struggle with another wave of extreme heat
Millions of people across Europe -- particularly in France, Italy, Spain and the UK -- sweltered through another wave of extreme temperatures Thursday as the continent's latest heatwave intensified.










