A wave of heat is not loosening its grip on the globe.
Phoenix has broken its own streak of blistering hot days, southern Europeans and millions of people on vacation there broiled under near-record temperatures, while parts of the Middle East tested the limits of what the human body is capable of enduring.
People around the world sought shade and water for respite on July 21, including in Lebanon, Spain and Turkey, where even those used to high temperatures felt the unusually sweltering summer.
There was some light relief, too, in Israel, where people took to the beach in mermaid tails at the Mediterranean Sea in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv (pictured).
Parts of southern Europe also have gone up in flames, with wildfires raging in Greece that forced evacuations and highway closures the week starting July 17.
People returned to their homes on Tuesday when a fire finally receded after spending the night on beaches, in hotels and in public facilities.
One tourist (pictured) is seen in Athens using a hand-held fan inside Stoa of Attalos, at ancient Agora on July 20.
While the mercury was rising and tourists were sweltering it didn't stop some from taking a selfie in front of Parthenon temple atop of the ancient Acropolis hill on July 21.
People in Monastiraki district of Athens walked alongside mist machines attached to restaurants to cool down.
There were similar scenes in Rome, as tourists tried to cool off near a fan spritzing water as they queue to enter the Colosseum on July 18.
The heat was expected to worsen again over the following few days.
It wasn't just people but also pets feeling the heat.
A woman used water to cool off her dog during a sweltering day in the Mediterranean Sea in Beirut on July 20.
One man wore an umbrella hat to shelter from the sun as he walked around the Eminonu district in Istanbul on July 20, 2023.
Germany has also bit hit by the hot temperatures.
Here, Icelandic horses surround a bin with hay in their dry paddock at a stud farm in Wehrheim near Frankfurt on July 17, 2023.
Rangers pose for pictures with a thermometer showing temperatures reaching 56 degrees, in Death Valley, California.
More than 1500 record-high temperatures were recorded in the US so far this month, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Over 35 daily high temperature records were broken on Sunday alone, according to the weather service.
Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; El Paso, Corpus Christi and Brownsville, Texas; and Tampa and Fort Myers, Florida, are all having their hottest Julys on record to date, according to NOAA climate data.
A firefighting helicopter dumps water as fire approach houses in Kalamaki near Agioi Theodori about 60 kilometres west of Athens.
Blisteringly high temperatures are expected to continue across parts of southern Europe this week, as the continent braces for its second extreme heat wave, putting people's health at risk and setting the stage for more wildfires.
Flames engulf a house as a wildfire burns in Saronida, near Athens, Greece.
Last week's "Cerberus" heat wave is making way for another, which Italian weather forecasters have named "Charon" – the ferryman in Greek mythology who carries souls to the underworld.
Italy, Spain and Greece have already faced unrelenting heat for days, but the European Space Agency has warned that the heat wave is only just beginning.
In Italy, which has been particularly hard hit, temperatures in many cities are expected to soar above 40.
The US city of Phoenix hit 43 on Monday for a record-tying 18th consecutive day at that temperature or higher as the area sizzles under a deadly, unrelenting heat wave.
The record is expected to be broken again on Tuesday as the streak continues, with temperatures of at least 46 in the forecast for Phoenix every day through next weekend.
As the scorching triple-digit temperatures persist, there have been 12 confirmed heat related deaths recorded in Phoenix just for the first week of July, and 55 heat related deaths overall so far this year, according to data from the Maricopa County Department of Public Health.
A man holds placards in front of a digital sign displaying the high temperature, in Death Valley, California.
As the climate crisis ratchets temperatures higher and higher, scientists have warned there's a growing likelihood that 2023 could be the Earth's hottest year on record.
Marko Leszczuk wears flippers and a snorkelling mask as he walks along the salt flats at Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park amid the heatwave.
Disgruntled tourists bemoaned the temporary closing of the Acropolis in Athens as Greek authorities proactively shut the world monument's gates between midday and early evening amid a heatwave that continues to grip southern Europe.
Red Cross staff handed out bottled water to tourists wilting in long lines hoping to beat the closure and scale the steps up to the gleaming Parthenon temple as temperatures were expected to peak above 40 degrees in the Greek capital.
Some visitors were frustrated at being left in the lurch because they were unaware of Greek authorities' last-minute announcement of the closure.
Red Cross coordinator Ioanna Fotopoulou said paramedics on hand administered first aid to a number of tourists exhibiting symptoms of dehydration and experiencing fainting spells.
Children cooled themselves in a fountain of the central Syntagma square in front of the Greek parliament in Athen on July 14, 2023.
Even by the beach, bathers were seen taking showers outdoors at Alimos Beach near Athens on July 14 as temperatures started creeping up across Greece, where a heatwave was forecast to reach up to 44 degrees in some parts of the country over the weekend.
People opted for the shade of umbrellas while at Glyfada Beach near Athens.
Meanwhile, in the USA, the extreme heat across parts of the country continued.
Even as the already extreme temperatures are forecast to climb even higher, potentially topping records amid a major US heatwave, tourists are arriving at infamous desert landscape Death Valley National Park, located on the California-Nevada border.
Daniel Jusehus snapped a photo earlier this week of a famed thermometer outside the aptly named Furnace Creek Visitor Center after challenging himself to a run in the sweltering heat.