Zürcher Nachrichten - 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.

- France heat record -

France's average temperature broke a record for the month of June, as the country closed over 1,350 schools due to the extreme heat.

Average daytime and nighttime temperatures reached 29.2C, beating the previous high reached on June 30, 2025, according to provisional data released by Meteo-France.

It expanded its heatwave red alert to 54 of the country's 96 mainland departments for Tuesday, affecting some 39 million people, according to an AFP estimate.

- Record Belgian heatwave forecast -

Belgium's heatwave is forecast to last a week with temperatures "the hottest ever recorded", warned David Dehenauw, head of forecasting at the IRM meteorological institute. Some schools reduced classes to half a day.

- Five die in Germany -

Germany saw a spike in fatal swimming accidents, with authorities reporting five deaths over the weekend.

Two men aged 20 and 22 drowned in lakes in Bavaria, and a 79-year-old woman died in the Baltic Sea. Other fatal swimming accidents struck in lakes in Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia.

Police said Monday that several heat-stricken passengers were treated by emergency services at Frankfurt airport the previous day after their plane was held for more than an hour on the apron before take-off.

- Two French children die -

Two children, aged two and four, were found dead in their family's car in southeastern France on Monday as temperatures soared, the local prosecutor Helene Mourges said.

- Postpone travel: Paris official -

"The transport network comes under severe strain in periods of extreme heat... railways cannot withstand temperatures above 50 degrees," the head of the Ile-de-France greater Paris region, Valerie Pecresse, told journalists.

"That is why we have advised all passengers who can to postpone their journeys, particularly vulnerable people, and for everyone who is able to work from home to do so."

- Rare UK top heat warning -

The UK's meteorological office issued the highest level of heat warning for parts of central and southern England for Wednesday and Thursday, with temperatures in the shade potentially rising as high as 40C in some places.

"An exceptional spell of hot and humid weather is expected across this region" covering London, Birmingham, Bath and other areas of England, the Met Office said in Monday's statement, a month after the UK broke its May temperature record.

"It is now likely the current highest temperature on record for June will be broken, this being 35.6C recorded in Southampton in June 1976 and Camden Square in June 1957," the forecaster said.

- 13 dead in France -

Thirteen people drowned across France at the weekend, the civil defence said, as the country braced for a peak of 43C in the southwest with half the country on red alert for unhealthy heat.

The authorities urged people not to swim unsupervised, as forecasters warned the extreme weather episode could end up being as serious as a 2003 heatwave that claimed the lives of nearly 15,000 people nationwide.

burs-rlp/rmb

M.Hug--NZN