Death toll rises as heatwave shows no sign of abating

THE death toll inched up yesterday in Europe’s worst heatwave in recent memory - a stagnant blanket of dry, hot air that has fuelled scorching wildfires, dried up river beds and proved devastating to farm animals.

The number of deaths in Spain jumped from 16 to 19, with the latest victims all elderly: two women killed by heat stroke and a man who died while doing farm work.

In Portugal, the death toll rose to 15 after another victim was burned to death in one of the worst wildfires there in recent memory. Around Europe, about 40 deaths have been blamed on the sizzling temperatures.