It comes as parts of Europe face another day of extreme heat, which has already smashed records in many countries. 

A red heatwave alert has been declared for 16 Italian cities, including Milan and Rome, by the country's health ministry. In the UK, temperatures are set to reach 40C in some areas.

France registered its hottest day on record on Tuesday as 40 people across the country were confirmed to have drowned while swimming in unsupervised areas over the last few days. 

A temperature of 44.3C was recorded in Pissos, near Bordeaux, on Tuesday, making it the hottest day in France since measurements began in 1947. 

Parts of the Netherlands are now under a code orange for extreme heat until at least Friday, before the heatwave is expected to reach Eastern Europe. 

Poland has issued a high-level heat warning for the western part of the country from Thursday to Saturday, while Croatia's Adriatic coast is under a red alert for Friday and Saturday. Hungary then, is already under a second-level heat alert, and will be raising it to a maximum level from Saturday to Tuesday next week. 

The heatwave is being driven by a weather pattern known as an Omega block, because it takes the shape of the Greek letter Ω, with a bulge of hot air trapped between cooler systems, allowing temperatures to build day after day. Heatwaves and storms are being intensified by climate change.

Here in Ireland, Met Éireann has confirmed temperatures will climb as high as 31C on Thursday and could even get higher, possibly surpassing the record of 33.3C set in 1887.

It has already issued a status yellow high temperature warning for the whole of Ireland until 9am on Friday, though at this stage it is still predicting temperatures could reach 26C on that day.

National Outlook

Wednesday will see sunny spells across the south and southeast before it starts developing in most areas with some showers in parts of the west and southwest. It will be very warm and humid with highs of 23C to 28C - it will be warmest in the south. 

Temperatures will not go below 14C to 20C as Met Éireann says warm and humid temperatures will continue. 

Thursday will be a "hot and humid day across the country." Highest temperatures of 25C to 31C are expected, but it could possibly reach higher in some places, with the hottest weather across the Midlands and the West. 

Heavy showers and possible thunderstorms are likely to develop on Thursday night in the west and northwest before it spreads elsewhere through the night, with the chance of spot flooding and frequent lightning. However, it will stay dry for most with clear spells. But it will be warm and humid with temperatures not dropping below 17C for most. 

Friday will see heavy and possibly thundery showers persist in the northwest for most of the day, while it stays dry for most elsewhere with sunny spells. It will still be warm with highs of 22C to 26C. 

It will be another mild and humid night on Friday before rain starts coming in parts of the south and west overnight. Lows of 14C to 17C are expected. 

Looking into the weekend, Saturday will see some bright or sunny spells at times, mainly in the east, with outbreaks of showery rain coming in from the west later. Highs of 18C to 23C are expected. 

Sunday will be quite breezy with a mix of sunny spells and scattered showers. Highs of 16C are set for the west, and 20C in the east. 

-Additional reporting from The Guardian