France is bracing for another day of unusually hot weather, with more than half the country remaining under red alert on Wednesday.
Tens of thousands of homes remained without power in western Brittany, while a major forest fire was brought under control overnight in the Maine-et-Loire region.
This comes after the country experienced its hottest June day since records began on Tuesday, with an average temperature of 29.8°C (85.54°F) recorded.
The heatwave is expected to spread to other parts of Western Europe on Wednesday, with an orange alert for dangerous weather conditions in place for parts of the Netherlands.
Temperatures are expected to peak in the Netherlands and Belgium on Friday, while in Germany the mercury is expected to reach 40°C (104°F) over the weekend.
The heatwave is also expected to spread to Eastern Europe over the coming days, with severe heat warnings issued for countries including Poland, Croatia and Hungary later in the week.
So far, France, Spain and Italy have been hit hardest by the heatwave.
Forty people drowned in incidents linked to heatwave in France since last Thursday, according to the Prime Minister.
Red alerts in France are being extended to four additional regions from midday on Wednesday, forecaster Météo France announced, bringing the total number to 58. Thirty-one additional regions are under orange alert.
At 5 a.m. local time, La Rochelle, in the southwest, had already recorded a temperature of 29°C, the forecaster said, with a maximum of 43°C possible later in the day in the region.
Temperatures of 39-40C are forecast across much of the west of the country, from Paris to Brittany, and are expected to remain the same until the weekend.
Temperatures peaked on Tuesday, with a maximum of 44.3°C recorded in parts of Landes in the southwest.
Some relief from the heat is expected starting Friday, with temperatures expected to gradually drop over the weekend. This change will be accompanied by thunderstorms, bringing a risk of flash floods and large hail.
Speaking to French radio, Labor Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou said that “we are realizing that we have become a hot country.”
The heat caused the country’s first major power outage, with around 68,000 homes left without power Tuesday evening in northwest Finistère due to a problem with a transformer, authorities said. Power should not be restored to everyone until late Wednesday at the earliest.
Elsewhere in the Maine et Loire region, more than 150 firefighters were deployed to fight a major fire on Tuesday in the Breignon forest in Saint-Macaire-du-Bois. It was brought under control overnight, authorities said.
Sights in Paris, the French capital, were also affected by the hot weather.
The world’s most visited museum, the Louvre, has announced that it is moving forward its closing time from Wednesday to Saturday, from 6:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. local time.
The Louvre said its historic building “remains fragile, exterior and insufficiently adapted to climate change”, adding that “heat accumulation is at its maximum at the end of the day, and intensified by the number of visitors”.
In France, among the victims of the heatwave, a 13-year-old girl went swimming with her family in the Seine in Fontaine-La Port on Sunday evening, even though she did not know how to swim.
Several drownings have also been reported in Germany.
While Spain has experienced scorching heat in recent days, temperatures are expected to begin to drop on the Iberian Peninsula as early as Wednesday.
But red heat alerts remain in force in parts of northern Spain, with a maximum temperature of 42C possible in parts of the Basque Country, forecaster Aemet said.
In Italy, 16 provincial capitals are now under red alert, with Latina added to the list on Wednesday, while Bari will be added on Thursday, Italian news agency Ansa said.
The Dutch weather service, KNMI, has issued a code orange weather alert, which refers to a “high risk of hazardous weather conditions” in the southern and central regions of the Netherlands from Wednesday until at least Friday.
KNMI said maximum temperatures of 37C were expected, while Friday could see the mercury reach 39C.
In Belgium, most of the country is under orange alert with maximum temperatures of 37°C expected in the coming days.
After its meeting on Tuesday, the Belgian risk management group said it was activating the “alert phase of the national ozone and heat plan” for only the second time. The first time took place in August 2020, although no specific national measures were announced, other than raising awareness and calling for special attention for the elderly and children.