Temperature records that stood for decades have fallen across Europe this week, and officials say some of the new records are much higher than previous marks.
New heat records have been set in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany in recent days as hot air surged in from North Africa and Spain.
A spokeswoman for the World Meteorological Organization says experts are stunned by the numbers.
Clare Nullis says normally records are broken by a fraction of a degree, but Thursday saw them shattered by as much as four degrees.
Forecasters say the heat wave won't last, with temperatures expected to drop today and tomorrow.
However there are concerns that the hot air mass is moving into Greenland where it may cause increased melting of the ice sheet.