Europe was preparing for new extreme weather conditions on Tuesday, as a deadly heatwave threatened new temperature records in the UK, disrupting train services and prompting hospitals across the continent to prepare for an influx of heat-related patients, reports UNN citing AFP.
Details
The latest heatwave has raised concerns about the impact of extreme weather caused by climate change on vulnerable people, while also forcing the cancellation of outdoor events, causing transport chaos and school closures.
This comes just a month after a previous period of unusually high temperatures that swept across Western Europe, and scientists warn that increasingly frequent, longer, and more intense periods of extreme heat are a clear indicator of human-caused global warming.
This May became the second hottest on record10.06.26, 17:24
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu was to hold a crisis meeting on Tuesday, an aide said, after the Meteo France weather service reported that the country's average temperature broke the record for June.
The average daytime and nighttime temperature on Monday reached 29.2°C, exceeding the previous maximum reached on June 30, 2025, according to preliminary data, while the central village of Chateaumeillant recorded a scorching 43.3°C.
During the heatwave in France, two children were found dead in a car23.06.26, 00:17
French authorities blamed extreme weather for the deaths of two children aged two and four, who were found on Monday in their family car in the parking lot of a residential building in the southern city of Carpentras.
Earlier, three elderly people died in their home in Gironde in the southwest due to high temperatures.
Europe expects heatwave above 40°, three people have already died in France22.06.26, 14:28
Weeks after the UK broke its May temperature record, the British Met Office issued its highest-level weather warning for only the second time in its history, covering parts of England for Wednesday and Thursday.
"The current highest June temperature on record of 35.6°C, recorded in Southampton in June 1976 and at Camden Square in June 1957, is now likely to be broken," the Met Office said.
This milestone is expected to be surpassed as early as Tuesday in southern England, where the weather service forecasts highs of 37°C, before temperatures potentially rise to 40°C in some places on Wednesday and Thursday.
The warning is in effect from Wednesday morning until Thursday evening and covers a large area of central and southern England, including London and Birmingham, the UK's two largest cities.
Schools in southwest England said they plan to finish the day early, and a railway company said it is canceling or modifying some of its services from London due to "severe weather conditions."
Italy's Health Ministry declared a "red" heat alert in 15 cities, including Milan and Rome, on Tuesday, and said the number would rise to 16 on Wednesday.
During a "red" alert – the highest level – the ministry advises people to eat light meals, stay indoors during the hottest hours of the day, and spray themselves with cool water.
In the capital, the transport authority acknowledged that the batteries of the city's new electric buses are running out by the end of drivers' shifts due to increased use of air conditioning.
"We are organizing the work of the Atac transport authority to cope with this unusual heat," the Corriere della Sera newspaper quoted the Atac transport authority as saying.
In the Spanish capital, Madrid, where temperatures peaked at 40°C on Monday, the city council has set up a "climate shelter" for the homeless and vulnerable, open from noon to 8:00 p.m. local time, providing water, food, and hygiene products.
Portugal's meteorological agency expects Tuesday to be the peak of the heatwave in the Iberian country.
France's Minister of Sports and Youth, Marina Ferrari, told France Inter radio on Tuesday that around 20 people have drowned since the start of the weekend.
She urged swimmers heading to the country's waterways to escape the heat to follow safety rules.
This warning extended to Germany, where police said five people died in fatal swimming accidents over the weekend.
Rains with thunderstorms and hail and heat up to 32° - weather forecast for June 2323.06.26, 08:25