Paris under fire as heat bites

Critics say holidaying ministers have done little or nothing as hospitals and mortuaries fill up, power supplies are threatened, pollution reaches dangerous levels and agriculture is devastated.

As the intense heat continues in many part of Europe, two more people have died in Spain from its effects, bringing the total there to at least 24. Five other people in Spain have died in forest fires.

Fires are still burning in a number of countries.

" It is absolutely incomprehensible that the government has not put a proper crisis group in place "
Francois Hollande
French socialist leader

Croatia, which has suffered more than 400 separate fires, managed to bring its latest blazes under control, allowing it to aid neighbouring Montenegro where serious fires are still burning.

French socialist leader Francois Hollande accused the government of passivity and inertia in the face of the crisis.

"It is absolutely incomprehensible that the government has not put a proper crisis group in place," he said.

Hospital wards are overflowing and even mortuary space is under pressure, say French reports.

"We've got more than 100 victims (in France)," said Patrick Pelloux, the head of France's association of emergency doctors.

The government has insisted that it is impossible to blame the deaths directly on the heat.

"People don't come in with 'dying of heat' on their foreheads," said Stephane Grossier, of the Health Ministry. "It's not as simple as that."

But France's largest funeral directors, Les Pompes Funebres Generales, said demands on its services had risen 50% in Paris since the heatwave took hold.

Farmers in Brittany have demanded state aid for what they call the "public sacrifice" of their animals, while firefighters want extra Canadair planes for "water-bombing" forest fires.

Power remains critical, as French giant EDF urges consumers to reduce their electricity use.

"We are mobilising all possible means to develop production," chairman Francois Roussely said on RTL radio. "The biggest danger would be to lose electricity."

Emergency talks on Monday ended in an agreement to allow three French nuclear power stations to discharge hotter-than-usual water into rivers, to the anger of environmentalists.

Six power plants have had to shut down, the government says.

River levels are not only lower than usual, but the water is warmer - making the task of cooling the power generators doubly difficult.

" The warmer the water in the rivers, the lower the level of oxygen it can hold, which increases the likelihood of fish dying "
Susanne Ochse
Greenpeace spokeswoman

Environment Minister Roselyne Bachelot, who has also appealed for people to reduce their power consumption, has assured French citizens that the government is fully "vigilant" as the heatwave continues.

Two German regional governments - Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg - have also allowed warmer water to be pumped into rivers, to head off a power shortage.

The two plants have been operating at only 80% capacity due to the high temperature of water used to cool the reactors.

Germany's oldest nuclear plant, Obrigheim, has been forced to shut.

Greenpeace said even a temporary relaxation of the rules could be harmful to wildlife.

"The warmer the water in the rivers, the lower the level of oxygen it can hold, which increases the likelihood of fish dying," said Greenpeace spokeswoman Susanne Ochse.

Temperatures may start to drop towards the end of this week, forecasters say.

In the UK, which broke the 100F-barrier for the first time on Sunday, temperatures are already down by a few degrees celsius.