BERLIN — Europeans cooled off in public fountains Wednesday as a new heat wave spread across parts of the continent and was already breaking records.

Belgium and Germany registered their highest-ever temperatures, while the Netherlands saw its hottest day in 75 years.

And the mercury is expected to rise even further.

Paris and other parts of France could see temperatures exceeding 40 C (104 F) on Thursday along with Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland.

The heat is putting pressure on authorities to help protect the elderly and the sick. Air conditioning is not common at homes, offices, schools or hospitals in European cities.

The weather is also aggravating droughts since it hasn’t rained much in many parts of Europe this summer. The combination of heat, wind and possible lightning from thunderstorms also increases the risk of wildfires.

Why is it so hot?

The second likely-to-be-record-breaking heat wave in two months in Europe includes some of the same ingredients of the first — hot dry air coming from northern Africa. That hot air is trapped between cold stormy systems in the Atlantic and eastern Europe and forms “a little heat dome,” said Ryan Maue, a private meteorologist in the U.S.

This heat wave is a relatively short event where the heat comes with a southerly wind — and dust — from Africa’s Sahara Desert, in contrast to the big European heat waves of 2003 and 2010 which lasted much longer and were sustained by a stationary high pressure system with little wind, experts say.

At the end of June, several countries reported record temperatures, and France hit its all-time heat record: 46 C (114.8 F) in the small southern town of Verargues.

Is climate change causing this?

Heat waves are happening more frequently in large parts of Europe, Asia and Australia, experts say. As the world warms, scientists say there will be more and hotter heat waves, but attributing single events to climate change involves precise computer modeling and calculations.

A team of European climate scientists did a quick, non-peer reviewed analysis of Europe’s June heat wave and found man-made warming made it at least five times more likely.

“Either of the two European heat waves this summer would have been remarkable in isolation. But now we are seeing multiple episodes of record heat in a given summer. By mid-century, we will simply call these episodes ‘summer’ — if we continue on this trajectory,” said Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann, who wasn’t part of the European group.

The heat waves aren’t just because the world is 1 degree Celsius warmer than before the industrial era, but also because climate change and the melting of Arctic sea ice has slowed down the jet stream, which is the river of air that moves weather along, Mann said. The slow jet stream is “a big part of the story when it comes to these very persistent heat extremes we have seen in recent summers,” Mann said in an email.

How hot could it get this week and where?

Temperatures in France especially are likely to be 15 C (27 F) higher than normal, with Paris likely to break its all-time hottest record mark of 40.4 degrees (104.7 Fahrenheit). Surrounding areas around Paris may hit 41 or 42 C (106 to 108 Fahrenheit), weather experts said.

The Dutch meteorological institute tweeted that Wednesday’s heat wave broke a record that stood for nearly 75 years of the hottest temperature ever recorded in the Netherlands. The Dutch weather service Weerplaza said that the southern city of Eindhoven reported a temperature of 39.3 (102.7 F) Wednesday afternoon.

Belgium measured its highest temperature since records were first kept in 1833. In sun-baked Kleine Brogel in northeastern Belgium, temperatures rose to 39.9 C (102.3 F), and the weather forecaster of the Royal Meteorological Institute said that it was “the highest ever Belgian temperature.”

Also, temperatures won’t cool down much at night, and maybe stay around 24 C (75 F) or higher.

The German Weather Service said a probable record high of 40.5 C (104.9 F) for the country was recorded in Geilenkirchen and put the entire country on heat alert. The previous record of 40.3 C (104.5 F) was set in 2015.

What are people and authorities doing to stay cool?

France in particular is haunted by the 2003 heat wave that killed an estimated 15,000 people there, most of them isolated elderly people whose families in many cases were on vacation. The country has since taken measures to try to ensure such a catastrophe isn’t repeated.

Those measures include a color-coded heat alert system to warn people when temperatures are expected to rise to dangerous levels in their area. The 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.

There are also public service announcements on television, radio and in public transportation systems about risks of high temperatures, telling people to drink water and watch out for isolated elderly people.

Millions of euros in extra funding for emergency services, including more staff members in hospitals and nursing homes overwhelmed in 2003. A government report at the time blamed the death toll on lack of coordination among government agencies, nursing homes that lacked air conditioning and overnight staff, lack of a public alert system, and other problems.

Still, few homes in France or Germany have air conditioning, and many public buildings also lack air conditioning, including hospitals and schools.

In the Netherlands, local authorities have taken an unusual precaution — with trucks scattering salt on the roads like they usually do in the winter.

The salt spreaders are usually used to prevent ice forming on Dutch roads in the cold, but Arnhem municipality started using them to cool off asphalt that is baking in the heat wave.

The city says in a statement that the salt “attracts moisture from the air and cools the asphalt.” It also prevents the asphalt from becoming sticky.

Across London, authorities started handing out water and sunscreen to homeless people and opened day centers for them to rest and shower. In the Lewisham district of the British capital, garbage collectors will start working as early as 5 a.m. in the morning to beat the heat.

London police warned people not to swim in the city’s River Thames after a young man died there Tuesday night.

“Whilst at times, the Thames may look appealing, especially in this hot weather, it remains very dangerous all year round,” police said in a statement. “On initial entry the water can seem warm on the surface, but further in it can be freezing cold and there are often very strong undercurrents.”

When is it over?

The heat wave will end in a few days. On the weekend, temperatures are expected to fall. However, quite often end of a heat wave brings storms, including lightning and heavy flooding.

Story: Kirsten Grieshaber and Seth Borenstein. Elaine Ganley and Angela Charlton in Paris, Natasha Livingstone in London, Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, and Raf Casert in Brussels contributed to this report.

SEOUL — North Korea fired two short-range missiles into the sea Thursday, South Korea’s military said, the first weapons launches in more than two months and an apparent pressuring tactic aimed at Washington as North Korean and U.S. officials struggle to restart nuclear negotiations.

The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles that were fired from near the eastern coastal town of Wonsan flew about 430 kilometers (270 miles) before landing in the waters off the country’s east coast.

A South Korean defense official, requesting anonymity because of department rules, said that an initial South Korean analysis showed both missiles were fired from mobile launchers and flew at a maximum altitude of 50 kilometers (30 miles).

The North is unhappy with planned U.S.-South Korean military drills that it says are an invasion preparation, and the missile tests may be aimed at sending a message to Washington about what would happen if diplomacy fails.

The timing was also interesting, coming not long after many in the United States were focused on testimony before Congress by Robert Mueller, the former special counsel, about his two-year probe into Russian election interference. And just hours before, U.S. national security adviser John Bolton left Seoul after agreeing with South Korean officials to boost cooperation to achieve North Korea’s denuclearization.

But the missiles’ relatively short flight distance also suggests the launches were not a major provocation, such as a test of a long-range missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, and that North Korea doesn’t appear to be pulling away from U.S.-led diplomacy aimed at curbing its nuclear program.

In recent days, North Korea has been pressuring the U.S. and South Korea to scrap their summertime military drills. Last week, the North said it may lift its 20-month suspension of nuclear and long-range missile tests in response to the drills. Trump has considered the weapons moratorium a major achievement in his North Korea policy.

Some experts North Korea’s recent actions are an attempt to get an upper hand ahead of the possible resumption of talks. North Korea wants widespread sanctions relief so it can revive its dilapidated economy, but U.S. officials are pushing the country to take significant disarmament steps before they give up the leverage provided by the sanctions.

A senior U.S. official said the Trump administration was aware of the reports of a short-range projectile launched from North Korea. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide a response, said the administration had no further comment at this time.

South Korean Defense Ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyunsoo urged Pyongyang to stop acts that are “not helpful to efforts to ease military tensions on the Korean Peninsula.”

If North Korea fired ballistic missiles, it could have ramifications because U.N. Security Council resolutions ban the North from engaging in any launch using ballistic technology. Still, the U.N. Security Council has typically imposed fresh sanctions on North Korea only when it conducted long-range ballistic missile tests.

“If they were ballistic missiles, they violate the U.N. sanctions, and I find it extremely regrettable,” Japan’s Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters in Tokyo.

It was the first such launch since Seoul said North Korea fired three short-range missiles off its east coast in early May. Many experts said at the time that those missiles bore a strong resemblance to the Russian-designed Iskander, a short-range, nuclear-capable ballistic missile that has been in the Russian arsenal for more than a decade.

Analyst Kim Dong-yub at Seoul’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies said the latest North Korean missiles could be Scud-C ballistic missiles or KN-23 surface-to-surface missiles, a North Korean version of the Iskander.

South Korea’s military said it and the U.S. military were analyzing details of Thursday’s launches. South Korea said it was monitoring possible additional launches by North Korea.

During a third summit at the Korean border late last month, Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed to resume nuclear negotiations, which had been deadlocked since their second summit in Vietnam in February ended without an agreement because of disputes over U.S.-led sanctions.

Both the launches in May and on Thursday won’t end that weapons test moratorium, which applies to firing intercontinental ballistic missiles.

On Tuesday, North Korean state media said Kim inspected a newly built submarine and ordered officials to further bolster the country’s military capabilities. The Korean Central News Agency said the submarine’s operational deployment “is near at hand.”

After analyzing North Korea-dispatched photos of the submarine, experts said the submarine likely has three launch tubes for missiles. South Korean government documents say North Korea has about 70 submarines, but analysts say they mostly have a single launch tube.

The construction of such a new submarine suggests North Korea has been increasing its military capability despite nuclear diplomacy that it began with the United States early last year.

The latest launches came amid a recent flare-up of tensions on the Korean Peninsula after South Korean fighter jets on Tuesday fired hundreds of warning shots to drive away a Russian reconnaissance plane that Seoul says violated its airspace. Before that alleged intrusion, Seoul said Russian and Chinese warplanes including the reconnaissance aircraft made an extremely unusual joint entrance into South Korea’s air defense identification zone, prompting South Korean military jets to scramble.

Russia and China have said they carried out their first joint patrol in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan but said none of their planes violated South Korea’s airspace. Experts say the joint patrol may have been aimed at testing readiness of trilateral security cooperation among the United States, South Korea and Japan.

Story: Hyung-Jin Kim. Deb Riechmann in Washington and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.