HELSINKI--Europe's heatwave gripped Spain and Portugal on Friday, as governments checked for forest fires, a Budapest game reserve fed its animals iced snacks and a Finnish supermarket invited customers to sleep over to stay cool.
Summer has brought drought and forest fires as far apart as Britain and Greece, where scores of people died, and Sweden warned of forest fires on Friday. Hot air from North Africa has caused the most severe heatwave since 2003 in Iberia.
Portugal's Civil Protection agency reported 426 firefighters were putting out or checking fire alerts in the north and centre. Fires typically flare late in the day when the weather is hottest.
Spanish and Portuguese temperatures will remain above 40 Celsius at least until Sunday, and could rise 2 or 3 degrees. That could push them above Europe's record high of 48C, set in Athens in 1977.
The record in both Spain and Portugal is just over 47C. In Portugal, local media said temperatures could beat Death Valley in California, one of the world's hottest places.
"Lisbon will be one of the hottest cities in the world this weekend because it's 10 in the morning right now and the weather is already way too hot," said Ana Pascoal, 56, a cleaner at a high-end restaurant.
Parts of Portugal's parched southern Alentejo region were forecast to hit 47C. The country is on alert to prevent a repeat of its worst fires in history last year when 114 people died.
Francois Jobard, a forecaster for Meteo France, said the hot air mass from North Africa could cause temperatures in Portugal and Spain of 45C until Saturday and perhaps hotter. Last month, wildfires killed at least 91 people in Greece.
"I don't want to say anything bad but yesterday, while I was watching TV, I thought the same could happen here but I'm praying it doesn't," said Eva Stigliano, a Greek tourist visiting Portugal for the third time. "I've been here in the summer but it has never been this hot."
Lisbon's temperature reached 43C.
Spanish authorities issued a heatwave warning for most of central Spain, expected to last until Sunday with temperatures of over 42C in some parts of Andalusia and Extremadura. Two men died of heat-stroke in the southeastern region of Murcia, Cadena Ser radio station reported on Wednesday.
A branch of the K-Supermarket chain in Helsinki's Pohjois-Haaga district has invited 100 customers to sleep in its air-conditioned store on Saturday. Finland's August average is 19C but temperatures approached 30C this week and few have air-conditioning at home. A store manager told the state broadcaster that beer sales would end at 9 p.m. as usual though snacks would be available.
In Germany, state rail operator Deutsche Bahn said it was offering free water to passengers in case of delays and would keep air conditioning running on its trains even when they are empty.
