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Here are the latest developments in Europe’s heatwave. Scientists have shown that recurring heatwaves are a clear marker of global warming driven by humans burning fossil fuels, and warn they are set to become more frequent, longer and more intense. Toddler dies in FranceA toddler died in hospital after being found in a hot car during a severe heatwave in the French city of Marseille, health services said, in the latest such death nationwide this week.

German heat recordGermany saw temperatures break 40C at several locations in the country, according to preliminary weather service data, breaking the previous recorded high of 39.6C for the month of June.36.9C in UKThe UK broke the record for its highest ever June temperature for the third day in a row, the Met Office weather agency said, recording 36.9C in Wattisham, Suffolk, in southeast England.

Records ‘shattered’The heatwave has “shattered numerous temperature records” and is having “major impacts on human health, on ecosystems, on agriculture, on labour productivity,” the spokeswoman for the UN’s World Meteorological Organization, Clare Nullis, told a news conference. Front heads for BalkansThe heatwave moving from Western Europe was set to bring very high temperatures to the Balkans. forecasters said.

Temperatures of up to 39 degrees were forecast in parts of Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro. Dutch festival cancelledOrganisers have cancelled the four-day techno music festival  Defqon.1 in Biddinghuizen in the central Netherlands, scheduled to start on Thursday, its director Sander Bijlstra told the ANP news agency. The Lago Lago electronic music festival in Stroombroek meanwhile said it would restrict alcohol sales.

Poland fire warningHeat combined with record-low May rainfall have significantly increased the risk of fires in forests and national parks in Poland, officials warned. A spokesman for Poland’s long-distance rail operator, PKP Intercity, told AFP the heatwave was expected to affect traffic, with overhead power lines sagging and rails deforming. Battle re-enactment scrappedOrganisers in Belgium said they had cancelled this weekend’s reenactment of Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo because of the heatwave.

Cash for schoolsMore than 130 million euros have been allocated to fund cooling systems and renovation works in French schools and nurseries, state-owned utility EDF and several lenders said. Germany faces extreme heatGermany’s weather service warned that the intense heat would spread over the weekend across the whole of the country.”In many places—from the southwest and west through the centre to the east—extreme heat is also expected,” said the service.

The service’s map of Germany was almost completely dark purple, signifying extreme heat warnings. Pride parade cancelledOrganisers of Paris pride cancelled festivities in the sweltering French capital this weekend after Paris police said they would otherwise ban the parties. Hospitals in the greater Paris region have been overwhelmed trying to keep up with soaring heat-related emergencies and issues.150 mn to face 35C+ FridayAt least 150 million people in Europe will roast in temperatures of 35C and above on Friday, according to an AFP analysis.

French drowning toll risesAt least 55 people have drowned in France since the heatwave began, the sports minister said Friday, warning the death toll could rise further. Many of the deaths were young people swimming in unauthorised areas to escape the searing heat. Climate change blamedHuman-caused climate change is “unequivocally” responsible for the intensity of a record-breaking heatwave scorching Europe, scientists said Friday. It would have been “virtually impossible” for such exceptional temperatures to occur in June 50 years ago, the World Weather Attribution group of scientists said.burs-rlp/jxb/rh

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 15:38:08 GMT