PARIS — Europeans struggled Friday to find relief from unusually high temperatures, but the U.N. weather agency said the continent is better prepared than ever to avoid major heat casualties.

From Spain to Poland, temperatures have climbed as a mass of hot air from Africa has pushed northward. Some cities have seen temperatures near or beyond 104 degrees, and they’re expected to stay high through the weekend.

World Meteorological Organization spokeswoman Clare Nullis told reporters Friday that Europe is “much, much better prepared” to cope with the heat than in 2003, when tens of thousands died in a heat wave – mostly elderly people in France.

A sudden sun shower, accompanied by a rainbow, cooled the tens of thousands waiting Friday for Pope Francis to appear at Saint Peter’s Square in Rome, where temperatures hit 91 degrees.

“First the heat, then a shower. The Lord is good,” a smiling Francis later told the faithful as many held umbrellas that kept both the sun and the raindrops away. “Even the water is welcome, since the Lord made it.”


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