Maximum temperatures are expected to surpass 30C for more than 380 million people across Europe excluding Turkey, representing nearly two-thirds of the population, according to an analysis based on forecasts from the German weather service and 2025 population projections from the Joint Research Centre.

The figures broadly align with projections by the Austrian NGO Klimadashboard, and are up from Wednesday, when the German weather service said 94 million people were impacted by temperatures exceeding 35C.

Mainland France was again the most impacted, where around 63 million people will see temperatures of more than 30C.

The heat will also surpass 30C for 70 million people in Germany, 48 million in Italy and 38 million in Britain.

Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands will also be impacted by the heatwave searing much of Western Europe since last weekend, as will people in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Croatia.

AFP used a method similar to the one used by Klimadashboard, cross-referencing the DWD weather forecast model (calculated at midnight GMT) with population density.

Residents are counted if the model predicts temperatures exceeding 30°C or 35°C at their location at any point during the day.

As the model has a resolution of approximately 6.5 km, it cannot fully capture urban heat islands, David Jablonski of the NGO Klimadashboard told AFP.

Consequently, "we likely underestimate affected people in dense urban areas", the organisation noted on its European Heat Tracker website.

Changes introduced in France since the 2003 heatwave included checking in on the elderly regularly and offering those in a retirement home the chance to spend several hours a day in a room with air conditioning.

Air conditioning remains relatively rare in Europe but Asian makers of air conditioners, such as South Korea's Samsung Electronics, China's Midea and Japan's Mitsubishi Electric, are enjoying a boom in sales, with strong demand from countries such as France, Spain and Italy.

The heatwave is being driven by ​a weather pattern known as an Omega block, pushing temperatures as much as 18 C above normal, according to the Reuters Climate Monitor.

The phenomenon resembles the shape of the Greek letter Omega, with a bulbous middle trapping in heat over regions for extended periods, with cooler weather on its fringes. Heatwaves and storms are being intensified by climate change.

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