The northeastern United States sweltered this week in a scorching summer heat wave, complete with stagnant, sticky air and no winds for relief, forecasters said. Even in a summer already filled with stretches of very hot weather, this week will be stubbornly brutal, with no relief in sight until the weekend brings thunderstorms to the region, they said. "Plain and simple, this week may feel the worst of any week for this summer in the Northeast," said Accuweather.com meteorologist Alex Sosnowski. (Reuters)

Participants celebrate during the “Chupinazo” (start rocket) to mark the kickoff at noon sharp of the San Fermin Festival, in front of the Town Hall of Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 6, 2018. (Photo by Jaime Reina/AFP Photo)

Participants hold red scarves as they celebrate the “Chupinazo” marking the start at noon sharp of the San Fermin Festival at Castle square in Pamplona, northern Spain on July 6, 2013. Ten of thousands of people packed Pamplona's streets for a drunken kick-off to Spain's best-known fiesta: the nine-day San Fermin bull-running festival. (Photo by Pedro Armestre/AFP Photo)

A reveller catches beer thrown from a balcony during the opening day or “Chupinazo” of the San Fermin Running of the Bulls fiesta on July 6, 2017 in Pamplona, Spain. The annual Fiesta de San Fermin, made famous by the 1926 novel of US writer Ernest Hemmingway entitled “The Sun Also Rises”, involves the daily running of the bulls through the historic heart of Pamplona to the bull ring. (Photo by Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images)

A man with a mask poses for a portrait as he takes part in festivities in honour of patron saint San Jeronimo in Masaya city, Nicaragua November 20, 2016. (Photo by Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters)

Breitling Wingwalker Freya Paterson, from Liverpool, UK, flies above Kuwait City's iconic Water Towers with pilots David Barrell and Martyn Carrington, on March 6, 2014. The team loop and roll up to 160 mph enduring G-forces of 4-5g. Crowds are expected to line the Kuwaiti coastline to catch a glimpse of the Wingwalking team on Saturday, March 8, 2014, to mark the opening of the first dedicated boutique in the city for the prestigious watch brand. (Photo by Katsuhiko Tokunaga/Breitling)

Participants prepare backstage before the 5th “Strongo Cup” open amateur bodybuilding tournament at the State Opera and Ballet Theatre in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, November 1, 2014. Participants from all over Russia took part in the tournament competing in bodybuilding, body fitness and bikini fitness disciplines. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

Stranded cars remain in a flooded street during an intense rainstorm in Havana, on April 29, 2015. Two people were killed, three buildings collapsed and another 24 suffered some kind of damage due to the heavy rain that affected several sectors of Havana Wednesday. (Photo by Yamil Lage/AFP Photo)