EUROPE is bracing for another heatwave as red heat warnings spread across Italy and Croatia.
It comes just days after high temperatures caused hundreds of deaths across the continent.
For Western Europe, where sweltering conditions have eased, heat is likely to build again next week.
Red heat warnings are now in place across 25 of 27 cities in Italy, from Bolzano in the north to Palermo on the island of Sicily in the south.
The extreme weather warning has also blanketed Croatia, with alerts covering the capital Zagreb and tourist hot-spots Dubrovnik and Split.
On Monday, dozens of firefighters and four aircraft battled a wildfire on the tourist island of Vis – 55km southwest of Split.
In neighbouring Serbia temperatures could climb up to 39C, the State Hydrometeorological Service (RHMZ) said on Tuesday.
And the Canary Islands are set for more intense summer weather over the coming days.
Temperatures are forecast to sail past 30C, accompanied by strong winds.
Gran Canaria will take the brunt of the heatwave reaching up to 40C, according to forecasts from AEMET.
Britain has also been warned of a second incoming heatwave with temperatures reaching a peak of 33C.
Europe was rocked by an initial heatwave that began on June 20, spiking temperatures to record-breaking levels.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said the country’s health emergency response plan, ORSAN, will remain at its highest level.
Lecornu said it comes in preparation for “a possible recurrence of a heatwave episode”.
The meteorological institute expects temperatures to be “very high again, probably above 35C” from Friday onwards across the country.
France, which endured its hottest day on record on Wednesday, blamed high temperatures for 1,000 excess deaths last week.
Its public health agency said that 85 per cent of the deaths involved people aged 65 and over, specifically in areas under red warnings of extreme heat.
Brothers, Kassim Benouali, 4, and Sadek, 2, were among the first fatalities after becoming locked inside a car in 40C heat after their mum allegedly forgot them as she went shopping.
The boys suffered cardiac arrests after they were trapped inside a car in which temperatures may have reached 70C.
The weather currently affecting Europe is known as an Omega block as the heat takes the shape of the letter with the same name in the Greek alphabet.
Forecast images show a bulge of hot air in the middle of the continent with cooler air either side – like the Omega symbol.
Clair Barnes, a scientist at Imperial College in London explained: “It’s drawing warm air up from North Africa, from the Sahara, and that’s why we have this really intense heat.
“It’s very slow moving and it means there’s kind of no wind, no breeze for respite.”
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