A 23-year-old fan of US pop music star Taylor Swift died Friday night of a heart attack amid Rio de Janeiro's historic heat wave that is already casting doubts on next Tuesday's World Cup football playoffs clash between Brazil and Lionel Messi's reigning world champions Argentina at the iconic Maracana Stadium.
Despite the southern hemisphere being still in winter, meteorologists foresee temperatures in the iconic city of Rio de Janeiro might reach 41°C as dry conditions heat up Southeastern Brazil, Agencia Brasil reported Thursday.
Europe was bracing itself for a sweltering Saturday as the heat wave continued across the continent. The Meteo-France weather service lifted its red warning but forecast a very hot day across a large central band of the country with the mercury expected to rise to 42 degrees Celsius in some parts.
It has been the hottest Easter Monday on record in all four nations of the UK, the Met Office has said. England reached the highest temperature with 25C (77F) recorded at Heathrow, Northolt and Wisley.
Three of the UK's nations have recorded their highest ever Easter Sunday temperatures, the Met Office has said. Scotland's peak was 23.4C (74F), in Edinburgh, while that same temperature was also the high point in Wales - coming in Cardiff. Northern Ireland beat a 95-year-old record when the mercury hit 21C at Helen's Bay near Bangor.