Northern Europe remains gripped by a scorching heatwave which has led to farmers facing unprecedented drought and even animals being slaughtered due to a lack of hay to feed them.

There have been wildfires in the Arctic Circle and even a spike in people being taken to hospital seeking treatment for sunburn.

Farmers have warned crop yields will be down and that poor grass quality was now affecting the quality of milk.

In Finland, where the average July temperature is about 18C (64.4F), the mercury has topped 30C in places.

Image: Finland saw a record temperature of 34.3C (93.7F) this week

Sky News weather producer Joanna Robinson said: "The Met Office told me that 34.3C (93.7F) was recorded at Utsjoki Kevo on Wednesday and is most likely a station record.


"The prolonged heatwave has brought wildfires and a reduction in air quality. Like the UK, a blocking weather pattern has occurred allowing temperatures to rise.

"They also said that the heat looks to last over the weekend, with temperatures into the high 20s and low 30s, affecting northwest Russia as well."

Sweden is seeing the highest temperatures for a century and more than 50 wildfires blazing above the Arctic Circle.

Image: More than 50 wildfires are being tackled in Sweden

Extreme heat brought new all-time records into N Norway and Kola peninsula, Russia yesterday. Foehn winds pushed temps into 31-33 °C before maritime airmass pushed in:https://t.co/D0EOlJc4VP pic.twitter.com/udHmggFyhF — severe-weather.EU (@severeweatherEU) July 20, 2018

The blazes have prompted large-scale evacuations and forced farmers to send their animals to slaughter due to hay shortages.

Concerns have been echoed across the continent with weeks of extreme weather and very little rain.

A national state of disaster was declared in Latvia's farms sector in June. The country has also asked for an early payment of agricultural subsidies from the European Union in order to cope.

It comes after a huge wildfire led to an entire village being evacuated in western Latvia this week. Firefighters were still trying to contain the blaze on Friday.

Image: A woman on a surfboard in Finnish Lapland

Volunteers have been pitching in to fight the fire too, with local farmers transporting water through forests in their tractors alongside the army and national guard.

Poland has also sought financial help from Brussels after more than 90,000 farms were affected by drought.

The extreme weather also brought flash floods in the Tatra mountains on the Polish-Slovak border.

Rescue workers said about 300 people had to be led to safety from a village on the Slovak side on Thursday night.

Food producers in Germany warned this year's harvest will be down by between 20% and 50% after droughts in May and June.