Some parts of Western Europe were starting to cool off as the extreme heat that has gripped the continent moved east.

Climate change caused by humans played a direct role in the deaths of about 1,504 people during a heat wave that struck Europe last week, a new report has found. Warming linked to the combustion of fossil fuels nearly tripled the number of heat-related fatalities that occurred during the June 23 to July 2 period,

The heat was so expansive that mountaintops, including the French Alps, that are usually frozen from snowpack saw record temperatures. Heat records were set for June in Spain and Portugal.

A heat wave covered much of Europe on Monday, with record-hot first day of play at Wimbledon and forest fires in Turkey and France. Heat warnings were issued for parts of Spain, Portugal,

As millions across Europe endure a blistering heat wave, with record temperatures triggering emergency alerts from Spain to the UK, experts are sounding the alarm over what they describe as a silent and increasingly deadly global crisis.

Water temperatures have surged above 85 degrees in the Mediterranean Sea, where records have been broken every day for weeks.