Temperatures were forecast to rise back above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) from southern Spain to Poland after weekend storms and lower temperatures brought a brief respite.

On Monday, the French state-run weather centre Meteo-France warned that temperatures would rise further this week and mainained an orange alert, the second-highest warning level, for about half of the country.

In the southeast of France, temperatures were forecast to reach as high as 38 degrees Celsius before falling from Thursday onwards.

A 90-year-old woman died on Sunday from hyperthermia on the outskirts of Paris, local authorities told AFP on Monday, taking the death toll from the heatwave in Europe to 32 with 23 recorded in France.

Deaths in France last week raised memories of a fatal 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.

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, but 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.

Electricity consumption soared last week, hitting a new daily record in Spain 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 was little breathing space for residents in the southern German region of Bavaria. 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, reaching 40 degrees Celcius in Alicante, Valencia and Murcia, and 37 degrees in Malaga.

The Spanish government has put into place measures to help the estimated four million Spaniards 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.

The British Meteorological Office said the maximum temperature would be 29 degrees Celsius in southeast England on Monday.

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.

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