According to Politico, one measure that EU representatives and state officials should have taken a while back is ensuring that enough firefighting aircraft is ready to take on wildfire, as France, Greece, Spain and Portugal have been dealing with increasing fires.

Another issue many states have is with regards to the infrastructure, such as transport, telecommunications and energy, all of which have a hard time working at temperatures that often go above 40 degrees Celsius, while also being "hit" by the Sun's power.

While this heat wave will eventually go away, scientists warn us to prepare for future such events, because they will happen more frequently than ever before.

Authorities need to find solutions for the long-term, as these kinds of weather phenomena can cause issues within the economy, but also the society of a certain state.

Maarten van Aalst, director of the Red Cross climate center and a member of the EU’s scientific advisory board on climate change, stated that "in a way, those hundreds of lives lost during heat waves are all wasted lives."

The EU forces member states to report on the amount of money they spend on "climate adaptation" and what measures are being taken to ensure this.

Politico suggests that 20 out of the 27 EU countries provide limited or no information at all about their climate plans.

Wouter Vanneuville, a climate change adaptation expert at the European Environment Agency (EEA), said that "they simply don't have it."

Data provided by the World Health Organization shows that less than half of the 27 EU member states have a well-thought plan to combat extreme heat and its effects on the public health.

Additionally, more than half of those who thought of a solid strategy don't have enough funding to apply it properly.

Martin Herrmann, a Munich-based doctor and chair of the German Alliance for Climate Protection and Health, said that "the discrepancy between the level of danger and the pace of action is a scandal. We don't know when the next big thing is coming and we are not prepared."

How EU countries were affected by the heatwave

France is one of the countries that took some measure to protect its citizens after the heat wave that hit in 2003. Many of the country's municipal authorities registered their most vulnerable inhabitants so that they can have faster access to health support in case of a heat wave.

Many regions in Germany don't have a solid plan in case of extreme weather events, especially against dealing with wildfires, since in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia alone 11 fires broke out in the past few days.

Firefighters don't have many options, since they have to go through a very complicated process before they can act.

Brigade leaders have to request fire-fighting helicopters from the local command center, which needs permission from the regional government, which in turn needs to ask the federal interior ministry, who then checks for available pilots.

Ulrich Cimolino of the German Fire Brigade Association said that in the best of days, these events should take one to two hours, but some states might require filling a form, which boosts the time to several hours, while the fire is continuously spreading.

In Greece, Ekathimerini reported that authorities needed 26 minutes to send 15 firefighting aircraft to put out the wildfires in the region around Athens.

The heat wave caused infrastructure problems as well in the UK, where Luton Airport had to suspend flights after a runway was damaged by the extreme temperatures, while many of the country's railways were shut down due to the same problems.

Amsterdam authorities decided to spray water on bridges to keep the temperatures in check.

France and Belgium-based nuclear plants had to slow down their operations due to the fact that the cooling water was getting too warm.

EU authorities and citizens need to take measures now in order to be better prepared for future heat waves that might hit the continent, as global warming is getting a more and more serious issue.

"We can laugh away the notion of a nice day at the beach being a dangerous phenomenon. But these are the real impacts that we have just seen in our own countries", Maarten van Aalst added.