Two people were found dead by firefighters tackling a blaze in Spain's Catalonia region on Tuesday, as Europe endures scorching temperatures during the ongoing heatwave. In a statement, Catalan authorities said the two bodies were found after firefighters extinguished a fire in the Torrefeta area, near the town of Coscó.

A punishing early summer heatwave that has already scorched western and southern Europe spread east Wednesday, bringing extreme weather warnings to Germany and reportedly causing motorways to buckle.

A punishing heat wave loosened its grip on western Europe Wednesday and rolled eastwards, with Germany expected to record some of its hottest temperatures of the year so far.