Flames rushing through tinder-dry woods and forests, sometimes with alarming speed and ferocity, threatened historic sites and beauty spots in a wide arc from Portugal to Croatia.

In the popular Mediterranean holiday island of Corsica, a massive fire continued to burn out of control just 20 kilometres (some 15 miles) north of the capital Ajaccio having already destroyed over 2,000 hectares (4,600 acres) of virtually inaccessible forest.

On the mainland near the southern mountain town of Digne-les-Bains over 200 firefighters managed to bring a forest blaze under control, but not before it had blasted through 140 hectares (320 acres) of woodland.

Thick palls of smoke also hung over parts of Italy with the authorities responding to over 30 emergency calls with their specialised water-dropping aircraft.

Prayers for rain were again held in churches across the northern part of the country over the weekend as farmers faced ruin because of the drought which threatens their crops.

There was anguish across the Alps in Slovenia, too, with official estimates that the damage caused by the lack of rain there could amount to about 70 million euros (80 million dollars).

In Croatia, forest fires continued to burn near the historic coastal city of Dubrovnik, classified as a UN World Heritage Site. Officials said there had been no casualties and the country's Adriatic Sea resorts were not threatened.

Local newspapers said the fire was the worst in 15 years, and police said a man from the city had been arrested on suspicion of arson.

Spain and Portugal were not spared.

Five fires swept through regions close to the Spanish capital Madrid and at one stage 1,500 homes had to be evacuated ahead of the advancing flames.

In central Portugal a blaze threatened on Monday to destroy one of the biggest areas of maritime pine trees in Europe. Police there say they think that fire may also have been started deliberately.

Some German farmers could lose up to 80 percent of their crops this year, if the mercury does not tumble soon and rain starts to fall, the head of the German agriculture association said.

Farmers are most severely affected in the eastern regions of Saxony and Brandenburg, with more than 225 million euros (200 million dollars) in damage.

The hot summer has presented problems of a different kind in many central European countries, with falling water levels threatening electricity production and causing havoc on the waterways -- a year after devastating floods hit the region.

Along the length of the Danube, Europe's second longest river and a major European trade artery, dozens of barges and other vessels were being held up because the water was not deep enough for them to navigate.

"The water levels are extremely low on all of the Hungarian rivers," said Istvan Kranicz of the Hungarian National Water Authority, and there was a similar story in Austria, Bulgaria and Slovakia.

The port manager in the Austrian capital Vienna said all river traffic on the Danube between Vienna and the Slovakian border had been halted completely.

Water levels were also affecting electricity production in Austria, with companies forced to cut production at some of the conventional water-cooled plants by one third despite demand being at its peak.

Ironically, violent storms broke out in the west of the country but could not bring much relief as the battering winds that accompanied simply added to the misery, ripping out trees and electricity pylons.

The heatwave has even crept as far north as Sweden, not normally known for its scorching summers, where a number of small forest fires broke out.

Unfortunately for Swedes, there is not even shelter from the heat in the sea: the authorities have warned people against swimming off the country's southeastern coast following a surge in toxic algae in the Baltic Sea brought on by the sultry summer weather.

In Finland, 17 people seeking relief in the water have died from drowning in the last week alone, a country where drowning is second only to car crashes as a cause of accidental death.

TERRA.WIRE