The Sao Jose hospital recorded 37 deaths between July 7 and 18, when the mercury soared above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in Lisbon, compared to 19 deaths during the same time last year, the hospital's emergemcy room director Joao Varandas said.

"There was an increase in the number of dehydrated patients as well as an increase in mortality," he told private television TVI.

The hospital admitted 201 people during that period, a 32 percent increase over the same year-ago period, Varandas said.

The hospital did not directly blame the additional deaths on the heatwave but it said it was a likely factor.

National figures for the number of extra deaths during the July heatwave are not yet available.

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