By Aleksandar Vasovic and Gavin Jones
BELGRADE/ROME, June 29 (Reuters) - Italy and the Balkans felt the impact on Monday of a record-breaking heatwave that has caused hundreds of excess deaths and disrupted daily life across the continent for more than a week, with growing concerns over the spread of wildfires.
Across the Atlantic, the National Weather Service warned of "dangerous heat with temperatures in the 90s and lower 100s (degrees Fahrenheit) across much of central and eastern U.S.," in the days before the July 4 celebrations on Saturday, the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
"The combination of prolonged daytime heating and limited nighttime relief will increase the risk of heat-related illnesses, especially for vulnerable populations and those without adequate cooling," the National Weather Service added.
For Western Europe, where temperatures have dipped from record June highs, there was also a warning that the heat was likely to build again next week.
In Italy, 22 cities from Bolzano in the north to Palermo on the southern island of Sicily were covered on Monday by a red heat warning.
Pilgrims at the Vatican used fans to cool themselves and sheltered under umbrellas for shade as Pope Leo delivered his Angelus message from a balcony to the crowd below on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, a holiday in the city of Rome.
WILDFIRES IN WESTERN BALKANS
In Croatia, the weather service issued a red alert on Monday for regions including the capital Zagreb and the tourist destinations of Split and Dubrovnik.
Dozens of firefighters, assisted by four aircraft, battled a wildfire burning pine forests on the tourist island of Vis in the Adriatic Sea, some 34 miles (55 km) southwest of Split.
In neighbouring Serbia, the State Hydrometeorological Service (RHMZ) has warned temperatures would reach 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday.
Further south, Albania contained a wildfire that has consumed many hectares of bushes and olive trees near the southern village of Klos over the weekend.
The heatwave, which began on June 20, set records for early summer and the blistering conditions disrupted power generation, damaged infrastructure and overwhelmed healthcare systems.
France has reported 1,000 excess deaths blamed on the heatwave. The French public health agency said most of the heat-related fatalities involved older people and warned the number was expected to rise.
French media reported that funeral homes in Paris and the surrounding area were overwhelmed by the number of bodies they had to deal with.
The heatwave would have been "virtually impossible" without human-caused climate change, which has made this week's soaring night-time temperatures 100 times more likely than they would have been just two decades ago, according to scientists.
YOUNG BOYS DIE IN CAR IN CYPRUS
Daniele Mocio, a meteorologist with the Italian Air Force, said the heatwave was expected to persist for a few more days in central and eastern Europe, with temperatures running 8-10 degrees Celsius above average. Any relief further west in Europe was likely to be short-lived.
Luca Mercalli, the president of Italy's Meteorological Society, said temperatures were set to soar again from July 5 or 6.
"The areas affected look broadly the same as in the first wave, including France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and to some extent Britain," Mercalli told Reuters.
"With the extreme heat the risk of forest fires increases, but we are also seeing a lot of rainstorms, which obviously mitigates that risk," he added, noting that storms were very localised so rainfall amounts could vary greatly.
Further tragedies related to the heat were reported at the weekend.
Two boys aged 8 and 10 from Bulgaria were found dead in a hot car in Cyprus on Sunday afternoon, police said. Cyprus is currently experiencing temperatures of around 38 C, which is not classified as a heatwave on the east Mediterranean island for the time of year.
Two cyclists, a 30-year-old and a 71-year-old, died while taking part in an event in the Poland Bike Marathon series in Marki near Warsaw on Sunday.
(Reporting by by Aleksandar Vasovic in Belgrade, Daria Sito-Sucic in Sarajevo, Fatos Bytyci in Tirana, Dominique Vidalon in Paris, Gavin Jones and Giselda Vagnoni in Rome, Michele Kambas in Nicosia and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk in Warsaw, Editing by William Maclean and Gareth Jones)
