Three elderly people died Tuesday in the Italian island of Sicily, taking the nationwide toll in the current heatwave to six. Two men, both aged over 80, died in the southern town of Calabria while a 59-year-old woman was found dead in her home in the northwestern town of Palermo in Sicily.

Italian firefighters have dropped tanks of water from aircraft to control more than 30 forest fires after temperatures in the south topped 45 Celsius.

Bucharest was Europe's hottest capital on Tuesday with temperatures at 45 Celsius but a heat alert was sounded for much of the south of the country.

Ambulance services were besieged with calls to help people fainting in the street, officials said. Fourteen people have died from the heat in the city over the past week, according to authorities who have set up more than 30 first aid tents in Bucharest alone to cope with the casualties.

Police have been handing out water in the street and the health ministry has warned the elderly and those with debilitating illnesses not to go out during the day.

Temperatures hit 44 Celsius in Athens and central Greece Tuesday, the hottest this year, and the government urged the public to save power as electricity consumption hit new highs. The Greek military has suspended all exercises and public services were closed in the afternoon.

Temperatures in Bulgaria beat the record for a second time this week with the mercury shooting up to 43 Celsius Tuesday in the southeastern town of Radnevo.

Authorities sprayed water on the tram rails to prevent them from buckling in the heat but no casualties have been reported. Trains ran at slower speeds, in some cases at 30 kilometres (18 miles) per hour as rails were deforming under the heat.

Police also banned heavy trucks from the roads at the hottest hours.

Authorities in seven Turkish provinces have given two or three days of leave to handicapped or pregnant civil servants, Anatolia news agency said.

Northern Africa was also affected by the heatwave with temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius recorded in Tunisia, where several fires were fanned by the heat and strong Sirocco winds.

There were power cuts across the country, notably in the seaside capital Tunis.

Northern Europe was meanwhile drenched by torrential downpours.

Three people have died in floods in England and hundreds have been evacuated from their homes because the rains threatened to cause a dam to burst. A bridge collapsed in western England.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the country faced "a difficult situation" as flood defences struggled against the weather.

Authorities in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, told people living near Ulley Dam to leave their homes after receiving a warning that the walls could collapse. A section of the nearby main M1 motorway was also closed.

In nearby Sheffield, Royal Air Force helicopters airlifted people in flooded areas to safety. A 14-year-old boy was swept to his death in a swollen river and a 68-year-old man was killed as he crossed a flooded road. In Hull, on the east coast, a man drowned after becoming trapped up to his neck in a drain on a flooded street.

earlier related report
Dam Breach Fears Amid Fresh British Storms And Floods
London (AFP) June 26 - Hundreds of people in northern England were evacuated from their homes Tuesday after torrential rain that has so far claimed three lives threatened to cause a dam to burst. Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged support for those caught up in the widespread flooding, which also led to the collapse of a bridge in western England.

"This has been an extraordinary and very serious event for us. We are in very close touch with the authorities there," he said, adding: "Our flood defences are holding but this is a difficult situation."

Municipal authorities in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, told people living near Ulley Dam to leave their homes after receiving a warning that the walls could collapse. A section of the nearby main M1 motorway was also closed.

"We have taken professional advice from an engineer, who said there is a significant risk that the dam could fail," said Tracy Holmes, from Rotherham council.

"Public safety is paramount for us, so we started to evacuate from three specific areas."

In nearby Sheffield, where Royal Air Force helicopters have been airlifting people in flooded areas to safety, a 14-year-old boy was swept to his death in a swollen river and a 68-year-old man was killed as he crossed a flooded road. In Hull 65 miles (105 kilometres) to the east, a man drowned after becoming trapped up to his neck in a drain on a flooded street. Emergency services battled to save the man, but could not free him as waters rose.

Northern and central England were the worst hit by the downpours, that caused the worst floods in parts of the country for many years and widespread chaos to the road and rail network.

In one incident a 40-foot (13 metre) section of a bridge was washed away in the town of Ludlow, west central England, by a river swollen after torrential rain, severing a gas main and causing a number of minor explosions. Dozens of people were evacuated from their homes, emergency services said.

Forecasters have said that some parts of Britain had an entire month's worth of rain in just a few hours, just a week after similar downpours caused disruption.

Blair added: "The immediate thing is to make sure that we get the right co-ordination with the emergency services and we try to make sure that we prevent any further loss of life."

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