First heatwave death confirmed in Spain

A 17-year-old from the region of Cordoba, south of Spain, is the first confirmed victim of the heatwave which is currently affecting the country and predicted to continue until Monday.

Local health authorities confirm that the 17-year-old man was affected by heatstroke after working in the countryside close to the small town of Castro del Rio and died in the Reina Sofia de Cordoba hospital in the early hours of Friday morning.

The heatwave is caused by a low pressure system over the Atlantic which is channeling super-heated air from the Sahara north into Europe.

Temperatures of up to 42 degrees Celsius are predicted for parts of the northeast and central Spain for Friday, with eight provinces placed on red alert.

Meanwhile a further 19 provinces, including the Spanish capital city of Madrid are on orange alert with temperatures of between 38 and 41 degrees predicted for Friday.

Thursday saw the highest ever June temperature registered at Madrid's Adolfo Suarez-Barajas airport as the temperature was measured at 40.3 degrees. Record June highs were also registered in Burgos, Lerida and Pamplona.

The highest temperature of the day was measured in the Basque region in the north of Spain, where the thermometer climbed to 44.7 degrees Celsius at around 18:00 p.m. local time.

This is the highest June temperature ever registered in the region and the situation was made worse for locals as public swimming pools were closed as the result of a strike by employees demanding better working conditions.

Meanwhile the conditions are complicating tasks to extinguish a wildfire in the province of Tarragona, northeast Spain.

The fire began at a poultry farm on Wednesday and has so far burned nearly 7,000 hectares of woodland in what is being described as the worst wildfire in the Catalan region for 20 years. Firefighters predict up to 20,000 hectares could eventually be affected.