Spain, France and other western European nations sweltered over the weekend under a blistering June heatwave, with some wildfires still blazing even as the weather began to ease.

The soaring temperatures were in line with scientists' predictions that such phenomena will now strike earlier in the year thanks to global warming.

Emergency services battled several wildfires Sunday in northern Spain. The most alarming blaze in the northwestern Sierra de Culebra mountain range has destroyed more than 62,000 acres (25,000 hectares), the regional government said.

Firefighters said cooler temperatures overnight had helped them make progress in their battle against the flames.

Residents of some 20 villages evacuated from their homes were allowed to return home Sunday morning, local officials said.

Temperatures of more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) have been recorded in parts of Spain throughout the week, but they had dipped by Sunday in most of the country.

The mercury was only expected to hit 29 C in Madrid on Sunday and 25 C in the province of Zamora where the Sierra de Culebra mountain range is located.

There have also been fires in Germany, where temperatures reached 38 C in the eastern regions of Brandenburg, Thuringia and Saxony with the eastern city of Cottbus setting a new German record for June of 38.7 C.

One fire in the Brandenburg region outside Berlin saw 700 people evacuated, local authorities said, as the blaze threatened "three-quarters" of the town of Treuenbrietzen.

In contrast, several northern regions were shivering in temperatures of 12 C.

Austria's western Vorarlberg region hit a seasonal record of 36.5 C at Feldkirch on the Swiss border, with the country's ZAMG meteorological institute indicating this June has already seen twice as many days surpassing 30 C as normal.

Much of neighboring Switzerland was also laboring under a heatwave with meteorological authorities indicating Sunday would see more records broken after a slew of hitherto unseen seasonal peaks the previous day.

As Geneva sweltered under 35 C, several other towns were not far behind, Neuchatel and Fahy beating previous records topping 34 C.

In southern France, a blaze triggered by the firing of an artillery shell in military training burnt around 494 acres of vegetation, authorities in the Var region said.

"There is no threat to anyone except 2,500 sheep who are being evacuated and taken to safety," the local fire brigade chief said./AFP