Melting homes, shrunken shoes and warped candles: US and Canada heatwave in pictures

Temperatures have been so high that people’s homes and belongings have warped

Shoes shrank in the extreme temperatures (Richard Dal Monte)

The record-breaking heatwave in Canada and the US northwest, with temperatures of nearly 50C, is believed to have killed hundreds of people.

Villagers in an area engulfed by wild fires have been forced to flee their homes.

Authorities in British Columbia recorded at least 486 “sudden and unexpected” deaths between Saturday and Wednesday.

The scorching heat stretching to Canada's Arctic territories has been blamed on a high-pressure "heat dome" trapping warm air in the region (BC Wildfire Service/AFP via Gett)

Another 60 fatalities in the US state of Oregon have been linked to the heat.

The village of Lytton, which on Tuesday recorded a new Canadian high of 121.2 F (49.6 C), was evacuated the next day as a blaze took hold.

David Phillips, senior climatologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada, a government agency, said climate change looked to be a factor causing a heat dome, a weather phenomenon that traps heat, blocking other weather systems from moving in.

Evacuation orders have been issued for the village of Lytton, which has set a new temperature record by reaching 121 degrees Fahrenheit (BC Wildfire Service/AFP via Gett)

As well as the deaths, people’s belongings have been melted or damaged, as people in Canada, Oregon and Washington state have shown.

In the city of Portland in Oregon, the siding of a house started to peel off in the heat.

Squirrels were seen lying flat out to try to disperse the heat.

A man cools off in a city hall pool in Alberta, Canada (AP)

Raegan Sack, 4, cools off in Oregon (AP)

In Seattle, coconut oil melted in the tub.

Some people complained their shoes had shrunk.

Householders have rigged up air-conditioning units.

Candles didn’t need flames for the wax to melt.

It has been so hot that eggs could be fried outdoors.

Pet owners are using ice packs for their animals.

Kim Cullen and her granddaughter in a lake in British Columbia (REUTERS)

An Air Quality Advisory alert was issued in Vancouver (REUTERS)

A Salvation Army vehicle is set up as a cooling station (AP)

People took to the sea in British Colombia (REUTERS)

Pedro Valencia, 9, pours a bucket of water over his head (AP)

Vancouver has 25 air-conditioned cooling centres where people can go for relief from the heat (AFP via Getty Images)

A fire hose sprinkler station (AP)

People in Oregon use dry ice to cool water due to an ice shortage (REUTERS)

A girl runs through a fountain in Alberta, Canada (AP)

A woman and her cat inside a tent at a cooling station in Oregon (AFP via Getty Images)

Long queues formed at public pools (REUTERS)

People sleep at a cooling shelter in Portland, Oregon (REUTERS)