At the same time, Britain was struggling to cope with its worst flooding for 60 years, which has seen some towns turned into islands and hundreds of thousands of homes left without power or running water. Hungary's chief medical officer Ferenc Falus said that from July 15 to July 22 the heat in the central region of the country had "contributed to the early death of 230 people, which nationally means about 500 deaths".

Temperatures in Hungary hit an all-time high of 41.9 degrees Celsius (107.4 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday in the southern city of Kiskunhalas.

Authorities in the Balkans warned people to stay indoors to avoid the extreme heat that had already killed 30 people in Romania and two in Bulgaria and Greece, with another two deaths reported in Croatia.

Temperatures in the region were commonly above 40 degrees Celsius, with Greece experiencing 45 degrees on Tuesday and Italy a high of 44. Rome recorded one of its warmest nights ever Monday at 27.1 degrees.

Bulgaria sweltered in its hottest temperatures since records began with the mercury shooting above 45 degrees Celsius in parts of the country, and more than 860 people were reported to have fainted in the streets in Romania.

The heat also fanned several fires, with one of the most serious on Tuesday raging near the southern Macedonian city of Bitola.

One person died and thousands were evacuated as the blaze lay waste to some 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) of forest near Macedonia's second-largest city.

The Italian wildfires that claimed four lives Tuesday near the town of Peschici, in southern Puglia region, prompted the defence minister to send in the military to help.

Four campsites were destroyed and about 4,000 people were evacuated by sea from the beach at Peschici because of the blaze, the coastguard said.

Greece was also recovering from a season of blazes that in the past month have devastated 32,000 hectares, according to the government.

One of the larger fires destroyed 5,600 hectares of forest on Mount Parnitha overlooking Athens, including more than a third of a national park that was supposedly among Greece's best protected areas.

The country took another blow on Monday when a water-bomber plane crashed while fighting a blaze on the island of Evia, killing both pilots.

The accident heightened concerns that Greece's fire-fighting resources have been stretched to the breaking-point, with Greek water-bomber pilots logging nearly 2,000 hours of missions since June, the air force said.

Forest fires also raged on the Adriatic coast with Croatia and Serbia each facing more than a dozen blazes.

Albania, Macedonia and parts of the Serbian province of Kosovo were left without electricity Tuesday as high consumption, probably from the use of air-conditioning units, overloaded transmission lines, officials said.

Meanwhile, Britain was longing for drier weather as the fate of many English cities, towns and villages hung in the balance and emergency crews built up defences against rising waters.

Large swathes of central and western England have been submerged for days and at least 350,000 homes have been left without running water and 50,000 without power, although supplies were now being restored.

The government's crisis response committee, Cobra, met late Monday and again on Tuesday as some rivers topped levels reached during the floods in 1947, even as meteorologists forecast more rain.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who chaired the latest crisis meeting, defended the government's actions amid charges it had been too slow to prepare for floods even though heavy rains had been forecast since last week.

related report

Heatwave in Greece claims 16th victim in a month as temperatures soar Athens (AFP) July 24 - Greek authorities on Tuesday announced the death of an elderly pensioner from heatstroke as a second wave of high temperatures that already killed 15 people last month set in.

"A 75-year-old man died on Corfu yesterday, he had prior health problems but the cause of death was heatstroke," national health centre spokesman Panos Efstatiou told Skai Radio.

Greeks were warned to stay indoors until the afternoon hours on Tuesday as temperatures were expected to hit 45 degrees (113 Fahrenheit) in some areas, increasing the risk of fire outbreaks.

Hundreds of blazes have broken out in the past month, fanned by high winds and an earlier heatwave that authorities described as the longest Greece has experienced in over 100 years.

One of the larger fires destroyed 5.600 hectares of forest on Mount Parnitha overlooking Athens, including over a third of a national park that was supposedly among Greece's best protected.

The country took another blow on Monday when a Canadair CL-415 water-bomber crashed whilst fighting a blaze on the island of Evia, killing the plane's two pilots.

The accident heightened concerns that Greece's fire-fighting resources have been stretched to breaking point in a month-long campaign that has seen fresh blazes start almost every day, many suspected to be arson.

Greek water bomber pilots have clocked nearly 2,000 hours of fire-fighting flights since June, the air force said.

Monday's plane crash brought Greece's operational casualties to five, including three firemen trapped and killed by a blaze on Crete on July 11.

Two other people died in June when they were trapped by a fire near Larissa.

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