A relentless heatwave is causing significant challenges across Europe, as temperatures soar past 35°C impacting an estimated 94 million individuals, predominantly in France and Spain.
Analyses combining weather forecasts from Germany’s meteorological authorities with 2025 projections from the European Joint Research Centre reveal that over 350 million people will endure temperatures exceeding 30°C, representing more than two-thirds of Europe’s population.
The severity of this scorching weather, which is surpassing temperatures in regions of both east and west Africa, is compounded by the fact that much of Europe’s architecture and infrastructure were not designed to withstand such heat.
Recently, a scientific report highlighted that the current heatwave has been “significantly worsened by climate change driven by human activity,” suggesting that, without these influences, temperatures could be 2°C to 4°C cooler.
In a London care home, elderly residents found it difficult to stay cool as the UK experienced its highest June temperature on record, reaching 36.1°C.
“We have to find means and ways to protect ourselves and do whatever nature wants. Nature is angry with us because we destroy everything,” 97-year-old resident Lucine Nazikian said.
The World Health Organization’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the heatwave was putting the health of Europeans at risk.
‘Swimming in my own heat’
Around 44 million of the nearly 67 million people in France are currently under the highest red alert level for heat, according to an AFP estimate.
On Wednesday, France experienced its hottest day since measurements began in 1947, the national weather agency said, breaking a record set just a day earlier.
The national temperature indicator — an average of daytime and night-time temperatures across 30 stations — reached 30C, Meteo-France said, citing provisional data.
“We insulated the windows, installed ceiling fans… but without air conditioning it’s tough,” said Manon Langlois, 34, a teacher in the southwestern city of Bordeaux, where the temperature reached 41.8C.
Spain also broke its June heat record, according to the Aemet weather agency, with an average temperature of 28.17C on Tuesday.
Conditions at many schools, offices and factories across the continent have become unbearable as temperatures rise, forcing early closures and employees to work from home.
“I’m practically swimming in my own sweat, which is not pleasant,” 25-year-old decorator Aaron Timothy told AFP in London while cooling off in the shade.
In Italy, where 16 cities are under red alert, the advocacy group Greenpeace said it had detected surface temperatures of 80C in the heavily asphalted area around Rome’s Termini railway station.
Despite restrictions for outdoor workers, the area was still buzzing with delivery riders, many of whom are self-employed, who said they had to work to survive.
Power cuts
Power outages have been reported in France, including in the northwest department of Finistere, where high temperatures knocked out a transformer late on Tuesday, leaving about 68,000 households without electricity.
In the UK, electricity grid operator Neso warned that supply could be squeezed due to pressure on the system.
Sales of fans and air conditioners have skyrocketed as people try to keep cool.
June is a key month for tourism in Europe but popular landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower and Louvre museum in Paris, and the stainless steel Atomium in Brussels, have been shutting early because of the heat.
US engineer John Beeler, wearing a fisherman’s hat and holding a small fan, said visiting Paris in such conditions was “awful”.
“We’re suffocating in the streets, we’re suffocating in the subway and we’re even suffocating in our rental,” he said, adding that they would be moving to an air-conditioned hotel room.
Heading east
The heatwave has pushed up temperatures even in usually milder northern countries such as Denmark, while Austria could see 40C and neighbouring Slovakia was on its highest extreme heat alert.
Further east, Poland’s weather service issued high-level heat warnings for the western part of the country from Thursday to Saturday, and predicted 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, while Hungary said it was imposing a maximum level alert from Saturday to Tuesday.
The head of the UN’s IPCC climate experts panel, Jim Skea, said the current temperatures were above some scientific projections, and warned that the continent would inevitably face more extremes as the planet warms.