Companies are reporting a drop in business, reflecting the economic toll of the heat wave, which is lowering productivity and keeping shoppers at bay.

Barcelona recorded its hottest month of June since records started over a century ago, Spain's national weather service said on Tuesday as Europe remained in the grip of the first major heat wave this summer.

The heat was so expansive that mountaintops, including the French Alps, that are usually frozen from snowpack saw record temperatures. Heat records were set for June in Spain and Portugal.