Weather consultants point to jet stream fluctuations and airflows from Africa for driving the heatwave on one side of the continent while drawing cool northerly air down the other.
Jim Dale, founder and consultant meteorologist at British Weather Services, called it "quite a natural thing."
"Why? It's simply the airflow," said Dale.
"So, for the most part, on the Western side in Europe we've had high pressure, we've had airflow off Africa – so it's been a warm stroke, with hot airflow across increasingly very warm oceans.
On the other side of the coin, you've got the northerly flow.
That's a cool direction, and therefore you get the opposite: the cold and the freakish events across mountains where you might see a bit of snow in summertime."
Forecasts indicate the heatwave will expand across France, Spain, Germany, and Italy, maintaining high wildfire risks as rain remains sparse.
"Drought conditions will continue or worsen this week as rain chances look sparse," said Nicholls.
"There will also continue to be an extreme wildfire risk in western into central Europe."
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French firefighters reportedly have 24 hours to gain control of the spreading fires before a 40°C heatwave hits the southwest region.
