Heatwave prompts Budapest to turn off landmarks' evening illumination

A record-breaking heatwave that is bearing down on Europe has plunged many cities into health alerts while forcing authorities to introduce energy saving restrictions to stave off a severe grid collapse.

The Hungarian government and the city of Budapest turned off the decorative lighting at landmarks including the parliament building, Chain Bridge and Buda Castle Thursday evening.

Major industrial users are asked to curb their electricity consumption after a drought dropped the water levels in the Danube River to historic lows, choking off cooling water for the country's only nuclear power plant.

Keepers at Budapest Zoo are placing resident Asian elephants under cold-water showers to protect them from dangerous heat stress.

Meanwhile, a blistering fourth heatwave of the season hits Rome where average temperatures remain around 30 degrees at night.

Tourists drenched in sweat are seen lining up at a water dispenser near the Colosseum.

Italy's Health Ministry on Thursday placed all 27 cities stretching from Trieste in the northeast to Palermo in Sicily under its national heat surveillance on red alert, the highest warning level.