Unprecedented heatwave cooks western Europe, with temperatures hitting 43 degrees Celsius

An intense and unprecedently early heatwave is baking western Europe, with temperatures in many places topping 40 degrees Celsius Saturday. 

Temperatures were high across most of Western Europe on the first day of the weekend. France and the Iberian Peninsula have been hit particularly hard.  

In southwest France, there were peaks of close to 42 to 43 degrees Celsius, as the city of Biarritz broke an "absolute" temperature record.

Nearly three-quarters of the country's population -- some 45 million people -- were issued with red or orange heat alerts in what is the earliest heatwave ever recorded in France. 

For some in Paris, especially those living in cramped, old apartments, the scorching heat was too much to bear.

Christian Thurillat, 70, told Euronews he was struggling to cope and largely unable to sleep. 

"I get up, I go to the bathroom, I come back, I drink a glass of water, then I sit down, I watch TV, that's it. Until 2 am in the morning," he said. 

Many regions of France also experienced high levels of toxic ozone concentrations due to Saturday's heat wave, according to the country's official Prev'Air bulletin. 

Ozone -- a so-called "secondary" pollutant -- is created when pollutants released by road traffic and industrial compounds such as solvents and hydrocarbons react with the sunlight. 

The resulting gas causes increased wheezing, coughing and chest tightness. Children playing outdoors are particularly susceptible. 

Areas across western and southern Europe are already rationing water amid the sweltering heat, with a very dry spring putting immense stress on water systems.

Scientists have said the multiplication of heatwaves in Europe is a direct consequence of global warming, with the World Meteorological