MADRID — France experienced heat never seen in the country’s recorded history on Friday as a heat wave pushed the temperatures to nearly 115 degrees Fahrenheit in one southern village.

The spell of unusually warm weather stretched across much of Europe this week, bringing urgent government alerts, contributing to wildfires in Spain and Germany, and leading to the death of at least two people.

While experts have yet to draw a firm connection between this relatively early — and extreme — heat wave and global warming, it fits a clear overall trend. As greenhouse gas emissions lead to a rise in global temperatures, heat waves around the world are occurring more often, and they are hotter and last longer.

Temperatures were well above 104 degrees Fahrenheit, or 40 degrees Celsius, in many parts of the Continent on Friday, although the heat eased in Central and Eastern Europe. Meteorologists said temperatures were expected to drop across the Continent in the coming days.