At Least 40 People Drown in France as Europe Bakes in Record Heat

A dangerous heatwave is sweeping across Europe, breaking temperature records and putting millions of people at risk. France, Britain, Spain, and Italy have all issued their highest heat warnings. In France alone, at least 40 people drowned in just five days as they tried to cool off in rivers and lakes. Scientists say this kind of extreme heat is caused by climate change and will only get worse.

A huge wave of hot air from North Africa moved into western Europe and refused to budge. A weather forecaster in France explained that a cold front near Portugal was acting like a heat pump, pulling warm air up from the south. High pressure systems in the upper atmosphere then squeezed that warm air, making it even hotter. The result was record-breaking temperatures across much of the continent.

France had its hottest night ever recorded since records began in 1947. French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu called the number of drownings a 'tragic scourge,' warning that 40 mostly young people had drowned since June 18. Many of them had jumped into water to escape the extreme heat. Two young children, aged two and four, were also found dead inside a hot car in the southern French town of Carpentras.

In Paris, parents at one school took things into their own hands to protect their kids. They taped survival blankets to the windows to block the heat and pooled their money to buy shade covers for the playground. The school did receive some fans, but a parent named Gaelle Roubere said the fans 'don't actually lower the temperature in the rooms.' In western France, a farmer named Stephane Delapre said half of his chickens died from the heat in a single day, adding that in 42 years on the job he had never seen that happen.

Spain was also hit very hard by the heatwave. Nearly the entire country was under a heat alert, with parts of the south and north at the highest warning level for what officials called 'extraordinary danger.' Spain's national weather agency urged people to drink plenty of water, check on vulnerable neighbors, and stay out of the sun during the hottest hours of the day. Still, some outdoor workers had no choice but to keep working in the blazing heat.

One of those workers was a furniture mover named Valentin Fernandez, who was hauling boxes through the streets of Madrid, where temperatures reached 38 degrees Celsius. He said he was having a 'rotten time' and that inside his truck the heat was twice as bad as outside. 'We have no choice, until one day we'll get heat stroke,' he said. 'If you don't work, you don't eat. That's the way it is.'

Italy declared red heat alerts in 15 cities, including Milan and Rome. Power blackouts hit Milan and Turin because so many people were running their air conditioners at the same time. A hospital in Parma reported that more than 1,000 people had visited the emergency room in just three days because of heat-related illness. In Germany, five people died in swimming accidents over the weekend as people rushed to cool off.

In Britain, dozens of schools in England closed early and stayed shut for two extra days because their buildings could not be kept cool. The UK's weather agency issued a rare red heat warning — only the second time ever — for parts of central and south England, with temperatures expected to reach 40 degrees Celsius. That would be unprecedented for that time of year, and the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris also closed early because of the dangerous heat.

Climate scientists and the United Nations have warned that Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent. They say heatwaves like this one are a clear sign of global warming, driven by the burning of fossil fuels like oil, coal, and gas. These extreme heat events are expected to become more frequent, longer, and more intense in the years ahead. A 76-year-old man in Barcelona named Jose Farre said the heat made it hard for him to sleep and breathe, explaining that he has a heart condition and diabetes and feels the heat a great deal.