108.7 Degrees in Paris: Deadly, Record-Shattering, Saharan Heatwave Strikes Europe

While some parts of the United States are seeing a bit of relief this week from record high temperatures, a historic heat wave is sweeping much of Europe.

Suffocating heat rising up from the Sahara Desert is shattering record high temperatures across the continent.

London recorded its hottest day on record for July – 98.4 degrees Fahrenheit at Heathrow Airport.

"I'm not dealing with this heat. I'm from Scotland I melt beyond 35 degrees (Celsius, 95 Fahrenheit) so this is pretty much where I start to pass out," explained accountant Tim Mehta. "I need to get in the water, to get in the water and cool down."

And that's exactly what many Londoners, tourists and others did Thursday as temperatures in the UK went to just over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. They took to beaches, ponds, and fountains to cool off.

A community services worker in Kensington and Chelsea visited the elderly and reminded them to drink plenty of liquids.
 
"Because remember, dehydration can send you back to hospital," warned community independence assistant Lida Cifuentes."That is, honestly, some people go to hospital just because they are very dehydrated."

In Paris, the mercury reached a sweltering new record high of 108.7 degrees Fahrenheit. That shattered a previous record high set back in 1947. Air conditioning is rarely needed here – few people have it in their homes and apartments. So, many Parisians dived into some of the city's famous fountains to cool off, including one near the Eiffel Tower.

Parisian Isha Zatmika explained that she is originally from Indonesia, "So I know what sun is and hot is, but this is just like, too much."

Electric fans sold out in Paris, and on Thursday, one fifth of France was under a red alert heat emergency. A similar heat wave in 2003 killed 15,000 people in the country.

North of France in Belgium, people experienced the hottest heat wave on record with high temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius – that's 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Record highs were also recorded in the Netherlands at 105 and Germany at 108.7.

Meanwhile, back in London at the zoo, even the usually playful meerkats appeared a bit hot and sluggish. Like their human counterparts, they tried to make the best of it. They cooled off by gnawing into some frozen refreshment-ice cubes provided by their caregivers.