France has issued a 'red alert' and Spain has canceled events as an exceptional heatwave sweeps across parts of Europe, prompting urgent health warnings for travelers to France, Italy, Spain, and Germany. About a third of France is under red alert, with temperatures reaching 40°C in some areas, and the forecast for Monday is even hotter. Multiple drownings have been reported as people sought relief in water.
France Imposes Restrictions
French authorities have canceled trains, concerts, and sports events, and cracked down on public drinking. The Eiffel Tower and other Paris venues set up misting stations to cool crowds. The French government banned public drinking in red alert zones and ordered organizers of Music Day events to limit alcohol consumption to preserve emergency services. Scores of French trains were canceled, and the national rail authority dispatched extra staff to deal with potential problems from heat affecting rails and electrical cables.
Authorities are particularly concerned about people living on the streets and elderly individuals in nursing homes or isolated at home. About 15,000 older people died in France during a 2003 heatwave, which became a national reckoning. The government mobilized emergency services and military forces for wildfire readiness, tightened surveillance of water supplies to nuclear reactors, and ordered 845 schools to close on Monday.
Spain Cancels Events
Spain's Basque Country canceled some sports and cultural events, with large parts of the country on alert as temperatures hover around 40°C, even in the typically cooler interior of Basque Country. The heatwave is expected to last at least until Wednesday.
Italy and Germany Affected
In Italy, authorities expanded heat warnings (red flags) to eight cities in northern and central parts, with temperatures in the upper 30s. At a farm outside Milan, owners set up fans and sprinklers to keep cows cool, while visitors to Milan Fashion Week used parasols and fans. The German Weather Service forecast temperatures up to 37°C on Monday and Tuesday, and up to 39°C on Wednesday. A 23-year-old man drowned in a lake near Rheinstetten, and three others are missing after swimming in the Rhine River.
Heat-Related Deaths and Climate Change
More than 200,000 people across Europe died from heat-related causes over the last four years, most of which were preventable, according to the World Health Organization's Europe office. Human-caused climate change is tied to increasing extreme weather events, and UN climate agency projections say the next five years should shatter more heat records. A rapid study found that human-caused climate change was responsible for killing about 1,500 people in an unusually early European heatwave in May.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu convened a new government heat crisis meeting on Sunday and ordered ministers to plan for better adapting France to heatwaves in the future, including via air conditioning if necessary.
