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.35C-plus for 94 millionAt least 94 million people in Europe are expected to experience temperatures above 35C on Wednesday, most of them in France and Spain, according to AFP calculations.
Maximum temperatures are expected to surpass 30C for more than 350 million people across Europe (excluding Turkey), representing nearly two-thirds of the population, according to an analysis based on forecasts from the German weather service and 2025 population projections from the Joint Research Centre. UK enters red alert A rare red alert for extreme heat came into force in part of the UK on Wednesday morning, with the Met Office forecasting temperatures potentially as high as 40C, unprecedented for the time of year.
The red “extreme heat” warning for Wednesday and Thursday extends to parts of central and southern England, including London and Birmingham, the UK’s two biggest cities. French orals rescheduledAround 10,000 of the 130,000 candidates sitting the baccalaureate exam had their oral tests rescheduled this week in France, said Education Minister Edouard Geffray. First major French power cutThe record-breaking heatwave left around 68,000 households without electricity in northwestern France on Wednesday, the authorities said, in the country’s first major power outage of the latest bout of extreme weather.
The outage, which involved a transformer on the electricity grid, was related to extreme temperatures and did not injure anyone, the prefecture in the coastal department of Finistere said in a statement. Belgium’s Atomium on reduced hoursOne of Belgium’s best-known monuments, the space-age Atomium in Brussels, which is made of steel, will close earlier to visitors from Wednesday to Friday, to avoid operating during the hottest part of the day, its management said.
Stellantis workers walk off earlyWorkers at a site of Jeep maker Stellantis near the French city of Mulhouse said they were ending their shifts early from Tuesday to Sunday in protest at working conditions during the boiling hot weather. France records hottest dayFrance on Tuesday experienced its hottest day since measurements began in 1947, the national weather agency said. The national temperature indicator — an average of daytime and nighttime temperatures across 30 stations — reached 29.8C, Meteo-France said, citing provisional data. The previous record was 29.4C, recorded on July 25, 2019, and August 5, 2003.
Eiffel Tower, Louvre close earlyIn Paris, the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, two of the most visited tourist attractions in the world, announced earlier closing times because of the heatwave. Another usually crowded French landmark, the spectacular Mont Saint Michel island in Normandy, urged visitors to “put off your visit during the red alert”. Warnings for Poland, Croatia, HungaryPoland’s weather service issued high-level heat warnings for the western part of the country from Thursday to Saturday, forecasting temperatures could break the record of 40.2C set in 1921.
Croatia’s popular Adriatic coast was also put under red alert for Friday and Saturday. Hungary, already under a second-level heat alert, said it was raising that to the maximum level from June 27 to June 30 as temperatures continued to rise. France closes 1,800 schoolsFrance’s government said that 1,800 schools were closed because of the heat on Tuesday, out of 8,000 schools that were affected.
Many of the others shortened classroom hours to send pupils home early. burs-sbk/giv
Wed, 24 Jun 2026 10:31:06 GMT