Italy and France issue red alerts as Europe’s heatwave sets new June records, claiming lives in drowning incidents and forcing school closures.
PARIS: Here are the latest developments in Europe’s heatwave.
Scientists have shown that recurring heatwaves are a clear marker of global warming, and warn they are set to become more frequent, longer and more intense.
Italy on red alert
Italy’s health ministry declared a red heatwave alert in 15 cities including Milan and Rome on Tuesday and said the number would go up to 16 on Wednesday.
During a red alert — the highest level — the ministry advises people to eat light, stay indoors in the hottest parts of the day and sprinkle themselves with cool water.
Drownings toll rises
French Sports and Youth Minister Marina Ferrari told the France Inter broadcaster Tuesday that around 20 people had drowned since the beginning of the weekend, urging swimmers trying to beat the heat in the country’s waters to respect safety rules.
A civil security spokesman on Monday said 13 people died by drowning at the weekend.
French crisis meeting
France’s Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu is due to chair a further crisis meeting on the heatwave with cabinet ministers on Tuesday morning.
Nuclear reactor turned off
A nuclear plant in southwestern France switched off a reactor because cooling water drawn from a nearby river had become too warm, a spokeswoman said.
The Golfech plant near Toulouse is cooled by the Garonne river but the water had warmed beyond the safe level of 28C, she told AFP.
France heat record
France’s average temperature broke a record for the month of June, as the country closed over 1,350 schools due to the extreme heat.
Average daytime and nighttime temperatures reached 29.2C, beating the previous high reached on June 30, 2025, according to provisional data released by the Meteo France weather agency.
It expanded its heatwave red alert to 54 of the country’s 96 mainland departments for Tuesday, affecting around 39 million people, according to an AFP estimate.
Record Belgian heatwave forecast
Belgium’s heatwave is forecast to last a week with temperatures “the hottest ever recorded”, warned David Dehenauw, head of forecasting at the IRM meteorological institute. Some schools reduced classes to half a day.
Five die in Germany
Germany saw a spike in fatal swimming accidents, with authorities reporting five deaths over the weekend.
Two men aged 20 and 22 drowned in lakes in Bavaria, and a 79-year-old woman died in the Baltic Sea. Other fatal swimming accidents occurred in lakes in Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia.
Police said Monday that several heat-stricken passengers were treated by emergency services at Frankfurt airport the previous day after their plane was held for more than an hour on the apron before take-off.
Two French children die
Two children, aged two and four, were found dead in their family’s car in southeastern France on Monday as temperatures soared, local prosecutor Helene Mourges said.
Postpone travel: Paris official
“The transport network comes under severe strain in periods of extreme heat… railways cannot withstand temperatures above 50 degrees,” the head of the Ile-de-France greater Paris region, Valerie Pecresse, told journalists.
“That is why we have advised all passengers who can to postpone their journeys, particularly vulnerable people, and for everyone who is able to work from home to do so.”
Rare UK top heat warning
The UK’s meteorological office issued the highest level of heat warning for parts of central and southern England for Wednesday and Thursday, with temperatures in the shade potentially rising as high as 40C in some places.
“An exceptional spell of hot and humid weather is expected across this region” covering London, Birmingham, Bath and other areas of England, the Met Office said Monday, a month after Britain broke its May temperature record.
“It is now likely the current highest temperature on record for June will be broken, this being 35.6C recorded in Southampton in June 1976 and Camden Square in June 1957,” the forecaster said.
