00:58 Rain to Put a Dent in New England Drought Meteorologist Ari Sarsalari has the timing and amounts.

At a Glance Authorities in France are attributing several deaths to the heat.

Deaths have also been reported in Italy and Spain.

Record highs have been set in at least five countries.

A wildfire burned more than 20 square miles of land in northeastern Spain. A total of eight deaths are being blamed on the scorching, record-breaking heat wave blanketing much of Europe.

The news agency Europa Press reported that at least two people have died in Spain from the heat, according to the Associated Press. Authorities in France are also linking at least four deaths to the heat, the AP reported.

Also in France, a 6-year-old child suffered life-threatening injuries after being hit by high-pressure water shooting from a fire hydrant that was illegally opened.

In addition, at least two deaths are being reported in Italy due to heat stroke . Milan, one of Italy's biggest cities and financial capital, saw power outages on Saturday as people demanded air conditioning. Visits to local hospitals rose due to heat-related illnesses.

(MORE: All-Time Records Fall Across Europe)

In France, firefighters in the Gard region doused several blazes Friday night and into Saturday believed to have been caused by the heat. Fifteen firefighters and several police offers were injured, according to Reuters.

The fires burned about 2 square miles of land and destroyed several homes and vehicles, the news service reported.

“We came very close to a disaster,” Didier Lauga, a government official, told reporters. “There are still firefighters in place in case fires break out again.”

One fire was blamed on arson, but Lauga said the extreme heat was likely to blame for for many of the others.

Meanwhile, the searing heat scorched vineyards in the region, prompting concern about grapes and other crops.

France issued its first-ever "red" weather alert since a new warning system was put into place after scores of deaths in a similar heat wave in 2003. The alert was lifted Saturday.

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/AP_19179597786297.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273" srcset="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/AP_19179597786297.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273 400w, https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/AP_19179597786297.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551 800w" > A man uses a cool bottle of water to cool off in the Trocadero gardens in Paris, Friday, June 28, 2019. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

The red alert is the highest warning and was issued on Thursday for the Marseille and Montpellier areas in southeastern France, the Associated Press reported.

Some 4,000 schools across the country closed, outdoor events were cancelled and volunteers were sent to check on the elderly.

"This heat wave is exceptional by its intensity and its earliness," Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said, according to the AP.

"Measures have been taken for the most vulnerable people. But given the intensity of the heat wave, it's the entire population who must be careful today ... both for oneself and for loved ones and neighbors."

An estimated 15,000 heat-related deaths were reported in France following the 2003 summer heat wave. The deaths prompted the nation's weather service to institute a four-level warning system for high temperatures.

Last week, as air quality deteriorated due to the heat wave, Paris banned older and less efficient cars to help limit air pollution. More than half of the cars registered in the region were included in this ban, Reuters reported.

Record high temperatures set in the summer of 2003 were shattered on Friday. The mercury hit 115 degrees in Gallargues-le-Montueux - the highest temperature ever recorded in France. At least 11 other locations across the nation also tied or broke the previous all-time record high temperature, according to the French national weather agency.

(MORE: European Heat Wave Shatters June Record in Germany)

"A heat wave of this amplitude so early in the year, in June, is exceptional," Meteo France meteorologist France Christelle Robert told the AP. "We should expect more intense and frequent heat waves with climate change, because it will accentuate the extremes."

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/ap_19177420853755.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273" srcset="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/ap_19177420853755.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273 400w, https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/ap_19177420853755.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551 800w" > An Icelandic horse is sprayed with water in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, on a hot and sunny Wednesday, June 26, 2019. Zoo animals are being given cold water and special treats to help them beat the heat. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Seven cities in Italy, including Florence, Rome and Turin, were also at their nation's highest heat warning level.

The warnings came as much of Europe - where air conditioning is rare in homes and even in many public buildings - continues to swelter under the current record-breaking heat wave.

In Spain, firefighters contained a wildfire fueled by the hot and dry conditions, early Saturday. The fire, in the northeast region of Catalonia, had burned more than 21 square miles of land, the Associated Press reported.

More than 600 firefighters worked to contain the blaze and 53 residents had been evacuated.

Miquel Buch, the regional interior minister, said the fire was the worst to hit Catalonia in 20 years.

Officials think the fire started in a manure storage area, and spread due to winds and the extreme heat.

Several other wildfires continued to burn Saturday in Spain.

Much of western and central Europe are suffering in scorching weather pushed in by a plume of hot air from Africa.

A record high of 101.5 degrees , was set Wednesday in Coschen, Germany, on the border with Poland, according to the German weather service. It was the hottest June temperature ever recorded in Germany. Record highs for June were also set in the Czech Republic and Poland, where temperatures also topped 100 degrees.

Besides France and Italy, heat warnings were issued in several countries as people flocked to to beaches, lakes, rivers, pools and public fountains to cool off.

Officials in Germany ordered speed limits on parts of the Autobahn lowered to prevent the road from buckling.

The transport ministry in Germany's Saxony-Anhalt state, in the north of the country, set speed limits at 62 mph and 75 mph earlier this week on several stretches of the roadway.

The famed Autobahn, Germany's interstate highway system, is known for its high-speed driving. Maximum speeds along most parts of the Autobahn are usually 75 or 80 mph, while some sections have no speed limit at all.

The buckling phenomenon is blamed on aging infrastructure. The older roads were constructed with concrete that can't withstand high temperatures.

In 2013, a motorcyclist died and four other people were injured after driving over a heat-caused bulge on the Autobahn in Bavaria.

The European heat wave is being caused by a large dome of high pressure aloft over the continent that is tapping into a hot air mass from northern Africa, weather.com meteorologist Christopher Dolce said.