Wildfires were raging in Spain and France on Tuesday after a dayslong heat wave parched landscapes in the region and turned woodlands into tinderboxes.

Some parts of Western Europe were starting to cool off as the extreme heat that has gripped the continent moved east.

A record-breaking heat wave in Europe has forced the shutdown of at least three nuclear reactors due to rising river temperatures used for cooling. One reactor at France’s Golfech Nuclear Power Plant was shut down after forecasts showed the Garonne River could exceed 28°C (82°F).

Punishing temperatures were forecast to reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in Paris and to stay unusually high in Belgium and the Netherlands. In contrast, temperatures were falling in Portugal, where no red heat warnings were issued.

Rome and Paris zoos served up frozen treats to its animals on Wednesday as the European capitals were caught in a severe heat wave.

Europe is currently experiencing its first major heatwave of the summer, with cities including Paris, Rome, The Hague, and Barcelona facing temperatures well above the seasonal average. Following a notably dry spring,