Reports that the lion's share or in some extreme cases the entire crop could be lost because of the lack of rain and searing heat forced ministers meeting in Brussels to knuckle down to come up with a financial bail-out.

Stung by cries for help from tens of thousands of producers from smallholders to industrial farmers who will start to see their crops wither within days, EU ministers petitioned the European Commission -- the EU's executive arm -- for help in tackling the cash flow crisis affecting farmers.

Following the meeting, the EU's farm commissioner Franz Fischler called the drought a "catastrophe" for Europe's farmers, and said the Commission was looking for ways to help.

Although no firm decision had yet been reached, the Commission would try to respond as soon as possible within the limits of available resources, he said.

Fischler said the payment of some subsidies could be pulled forwards -- a measure which French officials are pushing for.

Austria, France, Germany and Italy -- which holds the rotating EU presidency -- had all said they would press the Commission to get the ball rolling.

Both France and Germany -- where farm officials say as much as 80 percent of the crop may be lost -- said they would offer cash handouts to their desperate farmers on a national basis, although no precise figures have yet been released.

Austria's Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday said that over half the cereal and oil-producing crops had already been lost in some areas of the country.

"Record temperatures this summer have caused substantial crop losses in agriculture," said Chamber head Rudolf Schwarzboeck.

In Italy the main farmers' union, Coldiretti, warned last week that a major agricultural crisis was imminent, saying that Italian 11 regions are drought-stricken, with olive, corn and fruit production in jeopardy.

Outside the EU in Switzerland, where in some villages drinking water has to be supplied in tankers and many farmers are already raiding precious winter hay reserves to feed cattle, unions estimate the cost of the drought at nearly 200 million euros (220 million dollars).

In the Czech Republic farming unions have called on the government to guarantee minimum prices for agricultural produce while local people in neighbouring Slovakia, fervent Roman Catholics, have followed the Italian example by praying for rain.

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy described the drought there as "the worst since the 1950s."

And there was no sign the heatwave was about to disappear, with temperatures across the continent still stubbornly high.

In some regions, notably in the Mediterranean, firefighters remained on high alert to try to contain the almost daily fires that break out in the bone-dry forests and brushland.

In Croatia, the beautiful tourist resort of Dubrovnik on the Adriatic coast, already declared a disaster zone due to the drought, was threatened for the fifth consecutive day by several fires raging through the woods above the town.

Police said they had detained a man on suspicion of arson.

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