A brutal heat wave across Italy has been so severe that snails in the Sicilian town of Floridia have been found dead after sizzling inside their shells.

See, this one is cooked inside, Giusy Pappalardo, a farmer of snails used in the regions cuisine, told The New York Times in a story published Friday. She was holding one shell amid a field of the dead creatures.

The heat caused the snails feet to burn as they moved across the ground, Pappalardo said. Some snails managed to burrow into the soil, but she wasnt optimistic about their chances, either.

A local temperature reading in the town this week rose to nearly 124 degrees Fahrenheit, which, if officially confirmed, would be the highest temperature ever recorded in Europe.