A heatwave gripping Europe that has already caused deaths and serious wildfires appears set to get even worse.

Britain's weather forecaster has issued its first red "extreme heat" warning for Monday and Tuesday, with temperatures tipped to hit 40 degrees (its highest temperature on record).

It comes as wildfires continue to rage across other parts of the continent after an unusually dry, hot spring.

Here's what you need to know.

Rising temperatures prompt emergency response

With the mercury tipped to rise, government ministers in the UK were expected to hold crisis talks on Saturday (local time) after the state meteorological agency issued a first-ever "red" warning for extreme heat.

Loading

The Met Office said temperatures could exceed 40C on Monday or Tuesday in southern England for the first time, leading some schools to say they would stay closed next week.

"This year, for the first time, we've issued a severe weather emergency response in summer," London Mayor Sadiq Khan said.

Temperatures are forecast to hit 32 degrees in London on Monday — some 10 degrees higher than the city's average mid-July high.

The highest recorded temperature for the UK is 38.7 degrees, which was set in Cambridge in 2019.

Trying to control fires 'a Herculean job'

The heatwave has triggered devastating forest fires across France, Portugal, Spain and Greece, that have ravaged thousands of hectares of land and killed several personnel since the start of the week.

Fire season hit parts of Europe earlier than usual this year after an unusually dry, hot spring that left the soil parched and which authorities attributed to climate change.

Firefighters in the coastal town of Arcachon in France's south-western Gironde region were fighting to control two forest blazes that have devoured more than 24,700 acres since Tuesday.

Meteo France forecast temperatures of up to 41 degrees in parts of southern France on Sunday, as well as up to 35 in the north-west, with new heat records expected on Monday.

In neighbouring Spain, firefighters were battling a series of blazes on Saturday (local time) after days of unusually high temperatures that reached up to 45.7 degrees.

In Portugal, the meteorological institute forecast temperatures of up to 42C with no respite before next week.

Vulnerable people most at risk

The nearly week-long heatwave has caused 360 heat-related deaths, Spanish authorities said, while Portugal's Health Ministry said 238 people had died between July 7 and 13.

Loading

The World Meteorological Organization said the heatwave would worsen air quality, especially in towns and cities.

"The stable and stagnant atmosphere acts as a lid to trap atmospheric pollutants, including particulate matter," Lorenzo Labrador, WMO scientific officer, told a Geneva press briefing.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan also announced that help would be provided to the city's rough sleepers, who were expected to be amongst the most vulnerable in the hot weather.

Are these sorts of temperatures normal?

Scientists blame human-caused climate change for the increased frequency of extreme weather such as heatwaves, which have also hit parts of China and the United States in recent days.

"Climate change is driving this heatwave, just as it is driving every heatwave now," said Friederike Otto, senior lecturer in climate science at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London.

The UK experiences "occasional heatwaves but of a lesser frequency and intensity that those seen elsewhere globally", according to the Met Office.

"Heatwaves are extreme weather events, but research shows that climate change is making these events more likely," its website notes.

"A scientific study by the Met Office into the Summer 2018 heatwave in the UK showed that the likelihood of the UK experiencing a summer as hot or hotter than 2018 is a little over 1 in 10."

ABC/wires