While rivers swollen by Britain’s worst flooding in 60 years were expected to reach peak levels late Tuesday, south-eastern Europe baked in its second major heat wave in a month on Tuesday.

There were as many as 27 heat-related deaths in Romania and four in Italy.

In Macedonia, one person died and 20 were evacuated from burning houses near Bitola, the country’s second-largest city, as temperatures reached 42 degrees Centigrade amid a declared national emergency.

Thousands of firefighters and local residents battled through Tuesday to contain the huge blaze, while President Branko Crvenkovski ordered army units mobilised to help with the effort.

Firefighting airplanes and helicopters were expected to arrive from Croatia, Turkey and Austria. Thousands of hectares of forestland in Serbia were also reported destroyed by wildfires.

All of Albania was without power on Tuesday afternoon due to a defect in a transmission line importing power from neighbouring Macedonia.

In Italy, from Castel Gandolfo in the hills south of Rome to the Amalfi coast and the Puglia region on the heel of Italy, firefighters battled blazes amid soaring temperatures and strong winds.

Greek state services remained on alert as the country sweltered in temperatures up to 44 degrees Centigrade.

Meanwhile, large swathes of land remained flooded across the UK. Emergency workers tried to pump water from affected areas and

residents embarked on salvage operations, piling sandbags against doors to keep the water out.

A staggering 350,000 people are reported to be without drinking water.

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