PARIS/MADRID/LONDON: Three people died from extreme heatwave conditions in France, and thousands of schools either closed or changed their schedules as European authorities issued heatwave warnings.

In Britain, weather experts said temperatures could break June records this week.

Temperatures in Bordeaux, in southwestern France, were expected to go above 42 degrees Centigrade (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit) on June 22, and the weather agency Météo-France said 49 regions would be under a red heatwave alert.

French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said on TV channel TF1, "We are going to face at least several days of very, very hot weather. We don't know when temperatures will start to drop."

Three elderly people, aged between 80 and 95, died over the weekend in the Bordeaux area due to health problems caused by the heatwave, local official Sophie Brocas told France TV on the night of June 21.

The UK's national weather service, the Met Office, said on June 22 that a four-day heatwave across southern and central England and parts of Wales could push temperatures above 39 degrees C in some areas, easily breaking the June record of 35.6 degrees C set in 1957 and 1976.

This June heatwave comes after a record-breaking May, when Britain recorded its hottest day for that month at 35.1 degrees C.

"I think the heat in the UK feels different from the rest of the world. So 36 degrees is going to feel terrible," said data scientist Lewis Jennings, who was walking in central London. He added that he would use a tower fan at home.

In Spain, the state weather agency Aemet issued a red alert for the Basque region in the usually cooler north. Temperatures in San Sebastián were expected to reach 40 degrees C, more than double the city's usual average for June 22, according to the Reuters Climate Monitor.

San Sebastián was expected to be hotter than southern cities such as Seville and Córdoba, which usually have the highest summer temperatures in the country.

"We are seeing temperatures 5 to 10 degrees higher than normal for this time of year, and in some northern areas even more than 10 degrees above average," said Aemet spokesperson Rubén del Campo.

Nights were not giving much relief in some parts of Spain, with temperatures staying above 25 degrees C, or even 30 degrees C, in places like the southwestern province of Almeria, Aemet said.

In Milan, the Red Cross said it was inviting elderly people and those with health problems to visit its cooling center, where solar panels power air conditioning.

Near Rome's Pantheon, tourists cooled themselves by dipping hats in fountains, splashing water on their faces, or putting wet towels around their necks. Others stayed inside restaurants with misting fans.

Italy issued red heatwave alerts for 12 cities on June 22, including Milan, Turin, Venice, Bologna, Florence, and Rome.

Wildlife shelters in northern Europe were struggling to handle the large number of animals being brought in. Birds like swifts, swallows, sparrows, and starlings, which nest under roof edges, were especially affected by the extreme heat, said biologist Romaine de Jaegere, founder of the Creaves wildlife rescue center in Temploux, Belgium.

"Temperatures on roofs can reach 50 to even 60 degrees C. So the birds choose to jump rather than stay and die from the heat in their nests," De Jaegere said, adding that the shelter had taken in 150 animals in the last three days.