Heatwave hits parts of Europe including France and Spain

A punishing heatwave continues to sweep across much of Europe prompting a partial alcohol ban in France, nationwide warnings in Germany and the closure of a soccer fan zone in Spain, as temperatures climbed towards record levels.

Temperatures peaked at 39 degrees Celsius in inland areas, according to weather forecasts from the Italian Air Force. Tourist gathered around Fontaine des Mers on Concorde Square in Paris Sunday trying their best to cool off. Others gathered to fill their water bottles In the park in front of the city's town hall people clad in swimwear stood under a fountain to try to cool down.

And at the Canal Saint Martin bridge some young people jumped off into the canal below. ZouZou Hobbs, a tourist said "I have friends in Paris and I was asking them about is there anywhere to swim and cool off, and they said, my friend who lives here said there's no way she's going to be swimming in here because it's so dirty, but it's hot. I'm going to risk it.

But yeah, I saw last night on Instagram friends jumping off the bridge."No respite in Spain's capital Madrid as temperatures ranged from 37 degrees up This as large parts of the country are on alert as temperatures are expected to hover around 40 degrees Celcius.

People in Madrid sought shade, cold drinks and ice cream to keep cool. This student said that she was going to places with air conditioning staying in the shade and drinking water as well as wetting her hair all the time.

Carol Schwarzartl a travel agent said "Madrid today is very, very hot. It's almost 40 degrees but it's beautiful, so just come to Madrid and it doesn't matter about the hot weather."

The heat wave is expected to scorch Spain at least through Wednesday. Hot weather alerts are also expected in the interior of Basque Country, a northern region that typically experiences cooler temperatures. More than 200,000 people across Europe died from heat-related causes over the last four years, and most fatalities were preventable, the World Health Organization's Europe office said this month.