Tens of millions bake in extreme US heat

Nearly 60 million people were sweltering under heat alerts on Wednesday as a late-summer surge of extreme temperatures blanketed much of the eastern half of the United States.

Record heat was expected to impact the mid-Atlantic states with temperature highs of around 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 Celsius) in and around the capital Washington, the National Weather Service said, though the heat wave was expected to be short-lived as a cooler and damper front moves in from Canada.

"However, much of the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys will feel a couple more days of high temperatures topping into the upper 90s at the hottest locations," added NWS.