A 32-year-old man died in Spain after suffering heatstroke while working on a farm in Caceres in the east, local health authorities said on Thursday. He was Spain's third heatwave victim after a builder died in Murcia in the south on Sunday and a 44-year-old man died on Tuesday in Galicia in the northwest.

Sixteen people have died so far across Europe, where thermometers have hovered over the 30 degrees Celsius mark (86 degrees Fahrenheit) for several days, but authorities in France said that measures implemented following the 2003 heatwave had averted another disaster.

More than 35,000 mainly elderly people died across Europe in 2003, including about 15,000 in France, as a result of dehydration and heat stroke.

In recent days, at least nine people have died from heat-related deaths in France. Germany, the Netherlands and Spain have reported two deaths each.

Parisians got welcome relief from the suffocating heat on Thursday as the city opened its annual artifical beach along the banks of the capital's Seine river.

The four-week-long Paris Plage initiative was extended this year with the creation of another beach on the Left Bank and a second swimming pool where residents and tourists could escape the summer heat.

Britain also sweltered with temperatures rivalling many of Europe's traditional summer hotspots such as Rome or Athens.

The thermometer hit 36.3 C just south of London on Wednesday, the hottest July day since 1911 when records began. The all-time record of 38.5 C, set in August 2003, still stands.

Meteorologists in Britain estimated that temperatures had peaked for the week but many counties, particularly in the south, were still expected to swelter in over 30 C. The average temperature in Britain in July is 22 C.

Denmark also recorded exceptionally high temperatures with beaches and parks packed by residents seeking cool water or shade.

The heatwave has been a boon for many Danish businesses as ice-cream sales have shot up 21 percent, sunglasses by 50 percent and entries to children's swimming pools have increased 25 percent.

But the heat has also brought drought.

Several Polish deputies on Thursday held mass in the parliamentary chapel to pray for rain.

Fires have flared across Europe as baked earth and scorched vegetation have created ideal conditions to fan flames far and wide.

In Portugal, 700 firefighters are battling at least nine separate forest fires across the country in temperatures reaching 41 C. More than 600 hectares (1,500 acres) of agricultural land was destroyed by blazes in France on Wednesday alone.

In central and northern Croatia, more than 250 hectares of forest and woodland have gone up in smoke over the last two days, local television stations reported.

The head of a French research laboratory said the unusually high temperatures were linked to global warming.

"The rules are changing, there's no doubt about it. This is the start of a process. We can expect heatwaves to be more frequent and more extreme as a result of the general rise in temperatures linked to greenhouse gas emissions," said Herve Le Treut, director of the National Centre for Scientific Research.

Germany said the exceptional heat had increased ozone pollution to potentially harmful levels in parts of the country and only storms could clear the air. "We are at the start of a cycle of ozone pollution," said an official at the federal bureau for the environment.

Makeshift Sandy Beach Offers Londoners Way To Cope With Record Heat
Britain's inland capital of London may be a far cry from a languorous beach resort but some of its office workers have found something that comes close enough.

As temperatures soared Wednesday to a record high for July, women in bikinis mingled with workers dressed both formally and casually on "City Beach," a patch of sand imported to the heart of London's grimy East End.

"This weather won't last for long so you've got to enjoy it while you can," said Carolyn Baker, a 27-year-old data controller who sat back on a deck chair holding a glass of Pimms on her lunch break.

Wearing a short skirt and sleeveless top, Baker was among some 50 workers lounging on deckchairs or sipping drinks below parasols on the stretch of sand dotted with potted palm trees.

A small crowd stood around a Brazilian-style bar of bamboo and thatch which pumped out house music and served pina coladas and cold beer. It proved to be a popular alternative to the traditional pub.

The 20-meter by 10-meter (66-feet by 33) beach is just over a mile (two kilometers) from the River Thames and 30 miles from the nearest English seaside resort and is surrounded by decrepit warehouses and bohemian shops.

Entrepreneur Richard Lee turned this unprepossessing car park into an inland riviera four weeks ago, just in time to catch one of Britain's most intense heatwaves.

On the third day of the scorching weather, the national Meteorological Office website said the mercury soared to 36.5 degrees Celsius (97.7 Fahrenheit) at Wisley in southeast England.

The previous July record was 36 degrees Celsius (96.8 Fahrenheit), set on July 22, 1911, at Epsom, southwest of London.

"I've been really lucky with the weather," Lee said. "It was a big gamble but it's paid off very well."

Many of the "City Beach" sunbathers shrugged off warnings from scientists that the heat wave sweeping Europe was a result of the global warming induced by industrial activity.

"I'm not worried about global warming," said receptionist Anna Zajac, 26. "It would be nice if we had a lot more of this weather in London."

Zajac and her colleage, project manager Khalid Noor, 24, were both dressed casually in shorts and t-shirts -- their managers' concession to the Mediterranean temperatures.

"My colleagues made a few jokes about my dress but my boss doesn't mind," Noor said as he relaxed in a deckchair.

Grant McPherson, 26, had taken a few days off from his job as a physiotherapist and could not believe his luck at the weather.

"It's great, I'm out soaking up the rays," he said.

He said that despite the warm weather few people would take a sick day off work.

"Most people have already done that for the World Cup," he said.

McPherson said he believed global warming caused the current heatwave, adding: "I'm not concerned about it. Something has to be done, but not today -- I want to enjoy the sun."

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