Even ice cream, Italian gelato or Popsicles couldn't help this time.

Temperature records that had stood for decades or even just hours fell minute by minute Thursday afternoon and Europeans and tourists alike jumped into fountains, lakes, rivers or the sea to escape a suffocating heat wave rising up from the Sahara.

Climate scientists warned these types of heat waves could become the new normal but they loom as a giant challenge for temperate Europe. As emissions keep warming the planet, scientists say there will be more and hotter heat waves, although it's too early to know whether this specific hot spell is linked to man-made climate change.

"There is likely the DNA of climate change in the record-breaking heat that Europe and other parts of the world are experiencing. And it is unfortunately going to continue to worsen," said Marshall Shepherd, professor of meteorology at University of Georgia.

France's heat alert system went to its maximum level of red for the first time during last month's heat wave, when France saw its highest-ever recorded temperature of 46 degrees Celsius. On Thursday, about one-fifth of French territory was under a red alert, stretching from the English Channel through the Paris region and down to Burgundy, affecting at least 20 million people.

French authorities have been particularly wary since a 2003 heat wave killed nearly 15,000 people, many of them elderly, stuck alone in stiflingly hot apartments.

"The science behind heat wave attribution is very robust – the first extreme weather event to be definitively linked to global warming was the 2003 European heat wave," said NASA climate scientist Kate Marvel. "We know that as the climate warms, heat waves become more likely and more severe."

The sheer levels of heat on Thursday afternoon were nothing short of astonishing:

– The Paris area hit 42.6 C, beating the previous record of 40.4 C set in 1947.

– The Netherlands’ meteorological institute announced a record that beat the previous record set just a day ago: 40.7 C in the Gilze Rijen municipality near the Belgian border.

– Belgium hit all-time records twice in the day, rising to 40.7 C in the western town of Beitem. "This is the highest recorded temperature for Belgium in history since the beginning of the measurements in 1833," said Alex Dewalque of the country's Royal Meteorological Institute.

– The northern German town of Lingen set a new national temperature record at least three times Thursday, finally hitting 42.6 C. Those repeated records came after the country had set a national record Wednesday of 40.5 C in Geilenkirchen near the Belgian border.

– London recorded its hottest day on record for July, with the mercury climbing to 36.9 C at Heathrow Airport. The previous July record was 36.7 C in 2015.

– In Britain overall, temperatures hit 38.1 C in southern England, which gave the country a record for the highest July temperature ever but did not beat the national record of 38.5 C set in August 2003. Britain’s Met Office said its temperature records go back to 1865.

– The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment issued a "smog alarm" Thursday for areas including the densely populated cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague due to high ozone levels.

As intense as it was, the heat in Europe is expected to be short, with temperatures forecast to drop on Friday and Saturday.

(Top image via VCG)