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Continental Europe is in the grip of a deadly heatwave that has claimed hundreds of lives, including three children in France, as temperatures soared above 40C.

France and Spain were among the worst affected as the continent sweltered under a heat dome, a vast area of stagnant high pressure. In Spain, 212 people have died due to the extreme heat over the past week, according to data from the country’s mortality monitoring system, MoMo. At least 48 people have drowned in France, seeking relief from the record-breaking temperatures, including a 21-year-old French footballer with a second-division club.

In the UK meanwhile, the UK’s hottest June day on record has been broken again during this week's heatwave, with a provisional temperature of 36.4C recorded in Yeovilton, Somerset. This surpasses the high of 36.1C set on Wednesday in Gosport, Hampshire, the Met Office said.

It comes after the Met Office extended its red warning for extreme heat for Friday as the peak of a heatwave affecting most of England and Wales are set to shift eastwards.

But what is causing these records to be smashed, and this brutal weather to continue? And how long will the heat last? We explain the 'heat dome' that has descended upon Europe.