Some countries in central Europe are experiencing their highest temperatures in recorded history this week.

A large mass of hot air is currently being trapped over Europe by a slow-moving high pressure system.

Image: Forecast surface temperatures in Europe on Thursday, July 26th, according to the ECMWF-HRES model.

On Wednesday, maximum temperature records were broken in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

In Belgium, the town of Kleine Brogel reached 39.9°C on Wednesday afternoon, surpassing the country's previous record of 38.8°C degrees from 2018 and 2015.

The Netherlands saw its previous record of 38.6°C from 1944 surpassed in a few locations on Wednesday, the highest being 39.3°C degrees at Eindhoven.

Germany's Geilenkirchen set a new national record after hitting 40.5°C, according to the country's national meteorological service, the Deutscher Wetterdienst. Unsurprisingly, Geilenkirchen is located near the Netherlands border. Germany's previous record was 40.3°C from 2015.

The unprecedented heat will linger in parts of central Europe on Thursday, with more records likely to be broken. 

Temperatures in Belgium are forecast to reach 40°C on Thursday for the first time in recorded history. In France, Paris is forecast to reach 42°C, which would beat the city's previous record of 40.4°C from 1947.

The UK Met Office says that somewhere in Englnad is likely to reach 39°C on Thursday, which would beat the exisint UK record of 38.5°C.

It's looking likely that it will reach 39°C somewhere in southern and eastern England on Thursday. This would exceed the hottest temperature ever recorded in the UK #WeatherAware #heatwave #heatwaveUK ☀️ pic.twitter.com/K5YdqjyZAx

— Met Office (@metoffice) July 24, 2019

All records listed in this story are all-time national records, meaning the highest temperature officially observed in the country during any month of the year.