The extreme heat wave has already seen temperatures rise above 40C (104F) in many areas this summer. Meteorologists now expect the scorching hot weather to continue over the coming week, which could make it the most severe since the 1980s. The latest weather maps from WxCHARTS show bands of deep shades of hot black, orange and red air spreading over the Iberian Peninsula over the next seven days of August.

Marko Korosec, chief forecaster at Severe Weather EU, also warned of stinging 46 ° C peaks in parts of southern Europe, which could exacerbate “dangerous forest fire threats”.

He said: “Parts of Europe are now predicted to be baked with another intense heat wave this summer.

“A massive thermal dome is expected to lock in weather conditions in the southern parts of the continent, centered on the Mediterranean.

“This will translate into excessively scorching heat, with the highest temperatures expected in Italy, Malta and Greece until midweek, then intensifying in Spain and Portugal for the weekend.

“Maximum temperatures will reach around 46 ° C for several days and worsen the current severe drought conditions while becoming even more conducive to dangerous forest fire threats.

“A heated dome is a term used when a large area of ​​high pressure is parked over much of the continent and stays there for days or even weeks, as we have seen this summer.”

BBC Weather meteorologist Chris Fawkes added that parts of Spain could see temperatures soar to 40 degrees Celsius this week.

He said: “We have a north-south divide with the weather in Europe right now.

READ MORE: BBC Weather: European heat wave spreads as UK temperatures rise

“In the northern regions, we have showers or longer periods of rain for many countries.

“Meanwhile, in the Mediterranean it is generally warmer as the heatwave continues.

“Of course, they are concerned about the forest fires in Greece.

“In fact, this forest fire is spreading extensive smoke and hazy skies in the neighboring areas of ventral Greece, so areas like Skiathos have poor visibility due to the smoke from the forest fire.

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“Over the next few days there will be a tendency to see some showers in northern Europe as the pressure starts to build.

“But in southern Europe it’s always hot, with the heat tending to move west.

“In Madrid, temperatures are back to 40 degrees Celsius towards the end of the week, with similar conditions lasting until the weekend.

“It’s actually going to be really hot in most of Spain.”

It comes after several recent forest fires in Turkey have left a dozen dead and more than 50 people in hospital, with villages and resorts being evacuated in the south of the country.

Authorities in Greece, Turkey, Serbia and Bulgaria, and many other countries in the region, are now warning residents to avoid direct sunlight during the day.

Greek authorities also warned the public to avoid unnecessary travel on Friday as temperatures rose to 40 ° C (104 ° F) in Athens.

Mike Kendon, senior climatologist at the United Nations World Meteorological Office (WMO), said extreme weather is expected to become more frequent due to climate change creating chaos in the weather.

He said, “If we think more globally, we recently had very, very severe weather events, 49.6 ° C (121.28 ° F), an unprecedented temperature record in Canada.

“When you see sightings like this, they take us outside of our own experience envelope of what we’ve seen before.

“An event like this is simply impossible to explain without human influence on the climate system.”