A pharmacy sign in Carpentras, a village in southeastern France, which shortly held the country's all-time heat record of 44.3 degrees on Friday. The record was topped again later in the afternoon in the southern village of Villevieille, 100 kilometers (60 miles) to the east, which measured a thermometer-busting 45.1 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit).

Local authorities said that improperly stored chicken dung at a farm in rural northeastern Spain spontaneously combusted in the extreme heat on Wednesday, unleashing a wildfire that continued to burn on into Friday. Temperatures in the area around the fire reached 41 Celsius on Friday (106 Fahrenheit), as more than 600 firefighters battle the blaze.

Denizens of Paris cool down in the Trocadero esplanade. Pavement absorbs heat and takes longer to cool off, which makes cities feel even hotter during a heat wave. Air conditioning is also uncommon in many cities in northern Europe, which can make being indoors unbearable, as buildings trap the heat. A 2003 heatwave in France killed 15,000 people.

A volunteer hands water to a homeless man in Milan, Italy, where the mercury has topped 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in recent days. A heat wave alert was issued Friday in Milan, and an elderly homeless man reportedly died from heatstroke in a park near city's main train station. The extreme temperatures in Italy are expected to ease over the weekend.

Bathers lounge on the rocky banks of the Isar river in Munich on Thursday. Last weekend, dozens of women who were bathing topless on the Isar were ordered by police to cover up, sparking a debate on public nudity. Nude beaches are common throughout Germany. The banks of the Isar should be full this weekend, with temperatures in Munich expected to reach 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit).

A polar bear cools off at the Hanover Zoo in Germany with a frozen sorbet. Zookeepers across Europe have been helping animals beat the heat with mixtures of fruit frozen in ice. Polar bears are also given frozen fish. On Thursday, France banned the transportation of live animals due to the extreme temperatures.

A weather pattern that has stuck over Europe for almost a week is channeling extremely hot air from the Sahara desert northward. The World Meteorological Association said 2019 is on track to be one of the hottest years on record, and that heatwaves like the one currently scorching Europe are projected to happen more frequently.

"Breakthrough" insights into atmospheric dynamics are emerging from "high-maths" —scrutiny of satellite data, say scientists. Their Nature magazine article identifies "significant connections" between extreme rain events, often far apart. Their premise: global rainfall distribution stems "probably" from planetary waves named after the late Swedish-born American meteorologist Carl-Gustaf Rossby.

Normally, monsoon rains over northern Queensland last a "few days," says Australia's Bureau of Meteorology. Unprecedented downpours began a week ago, with more forecast and troops sent to a disaster zone. Evacuations have included these residents of Rossela, near Townsville, and German and Swiss tourists plucked from the Diamantina River catchment by a local farmer using his private helicopter.

Wildfires have scorched swaths of Tasmania, offshore from continental Australia's Victoria state, where residents last month faced a record heat wave. Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) blames the trend partly on record-warm southern Tasman Sea temperatures that have blocked rain-bearing cold weather fronts. These flow normally west-to-east under Australia toward New Zealand.

Its hills denuded by recent drought-induced wildfires, California's central coast braced Saturday for another Pacific storm, with heavy rainfalls forecast. Santa Barbara County ordered evacuations from areas still clogged by past fire debris. Avalanche warnings were in place on the Sierra Nevada, loaded with snow from storms in January.

The US Midwest, including Chicago, is thawing after a sudden two-day arctic vortex chill. At least 18 people died. Normally, the icy air mass swirling over the darkened North Pole during the winter stays ringed by the polar jet stream at about 60 degrees north. Stream weakening was also behind the prolonged 2018 European summer drought, according to Potsdam's PIK climate institute.

Indonesia, like much of Asia, weathers annual monsoon rains. Last Tuesday, the Sulawesi islands counted its toll: at least 70 people were killed as rivers burst their banks and landslides buried village homes. Authorities said a state of emergency would remain in place until February 6.