With a maximum temperature of 40.2 degrees celsius, Malta was the hottest place in Europe on Thursday.

An image posted by popular Facebook page Maltese Islands Weather, which is known for its expert insight into the weather in and around Malta, showed temperatures all across Europe.

Malta is currently grappling with a heatwave which has been blown in from the Sahara Desert – a heatwave which is expected to last for at least another week.

Other areas such as the south of Italy, Greece, the upper Balkans and even as far away as Belarus are all registering temperatures in the mid-30s as well.

Things are a lot cooler in western Europe: much of France and Germany is registering temperature in the 20s while Spain is registering temperatures much more akin to a usual summer.

Yesterday’s temperature was also the highest ever recorded in the month of June in Malta – surpassing 40.1 degrees celsius registered in June 1997.