In France, the health ministry appealed for help from medical students and retired doctors to cope with a possible surge in casualties, and there were warnings that the unseasonably high temperatures could damage crop harvests in some countries.

Temperatures rose back above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday from southern Spain to Poland after weekend storms and lower temperatures had brought a brief respite.

On Monday, the French state-run weather centre Meteo-France maintained its orange heatwave alert, the second-highest warning level, for about half of the country.

It forecast that temperatures could reach as high as 38 degrees Celsius this week before falling from Thursday onwards.

Separately, French public health organisation InVS gave an updated deathtoll showing that "about 30" people had been killed by the heat so far. The figure included the death on Sunday of a 90-year-old woman who was found with hyperthermia in her apartment on the outskirts of Paris.

In total, the heatwave has cost the lives of about 40 people in Europe.

Deaths in France have raised the spectre of a devastating bout of baking temperatures in 2003 that killed 15,000 people in the country and more than twice as many across Europe.

The French government took to the airwaves over the weekend, issuing warnings on radio and television and identifying people living in isolated circumstances as being particularly vulnerable to heat.

Health Minister Xavier Bertrand, appealing for help from medical students and retired doctors, said emergency health services were overstretched and needed their help with front-line services.

In the Netherlands, a Dutch organisation for senior citizens, Het Nationaal Fonds Ouderenhulp, launched a telephone helpline on Saturday advising the elderly how to beat the heat.

In radio commercials senior citizens were advised to call a number that gives tips such as "drink at least two litres of water a day" or "if you feel hot, moisten your face, neck, wrists and legs regularly".

The elderly are particularly vulnerable to the heat though not its sole victims. High temperatures over the last week have also claimed the lives of a builder in Spain, a lorry driver in Austria and a 15-month-old baby in France.

A 32-year-old Italian woman was struck dead by lighting in weekend storms which followed three scorching days which saw the mercury hit 40 degrees Celsius in some parts of the peninsula.

Electricity consumption has also mirrored the rising temperatures, striking a new record in Spain last week and leading French power group EDF to invoke an action plan allowing it to temporarily flout environmental norms that govern the temperature of discharged water from its nuclear plants.

Germany sweltered in temperatures of more than 30 degrees Celsius on Monday and forecasters said the heat would stay high until Friday when showers and storms were expected.

There had been little breathing space for residents in the southern region of Bavaria over the weekend. Sweltering heat gave way to heavy storms and a tornado on Saturday which injured seven people in the city of Karlsruhe.

Six Spanish regions had also been on high alert over the weekend, with temperatures at their most oppressive in the south, and the Spanish government has put into place measures to help an estimated four million people most at risk.

On Monday, parts of Britain remained in the grip of a heatwave, though temperatures have declined since they peaked on July 19, the hottest day on record for July.

There were also signs on Monday that the persistent high temperatures would harm farmers' harvests.

In the Netherlands, Dutch agricultural organisation warned that farmers would be forced to bring in their crops early to save what they can, resulting in a potato harvest between 20 percent and 30 percent lower than usual and grain crops 25 percent lower.

In Poland, Polish Agriculture Minister Andrzej Lepper warned that a drought caused by baking summer temperatures would cut Poland's cereal harvest by 20 percent.

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