Weather tracker: temperatures to intensify in Europe as new heatwave hits

Spain, Italy, Greece and parts of Balkans to be worst affected, with some areas braced for possible 48C conditions

In contrast to the rather cool, unsettled and unseasonably windy weather in the UK, large parts of southern Europe are in the grip of intense and dangerous heatwave conditions. Temperatures reached the mid to high 30s celsius last week, in what was named by the Italian Meteorological Society as the Cerberus heatwave. A temperature of 44.8C was observed in Almería, Spain on Wednesday. By Saturday, temperatures were peaking at 41C in Greece, 44C in Turkey and 39C in southern Germany.

These extreme temperatures forced authorities to close the Acropolis in Athens during the hottest part of the day to protect tourists. Elsewhere, a large forest fire on La Palma destroyed at least 11,000 acres of land and forced the evacuation of more than 4,000 people.