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- Drowning death toll rises to 55 in France amid heatwave
- Organisers postpone Paris Pride March due to heatwave
- France pledges 130 mn euros to cool schools
- Belgium cancels Waterloo battle reenactment due to heat
- UK hottest June day record broken for third day in a row
Switzerland's Beznau nuclear plant halts operations due to heatwave
The nuclear reactors at Europe's oldest nuclear plant were shut down, its Swiss operator said, after the heatwave roasting Europe sent temperatures soaring in a nearby river used for cooling.
"The temperature of the Aare River reached 25C again yesterday and today. Sufficient cooling is not in sight," energy company Axpo said on its website, adding that as a consequence, the Beznau nuclear plant "has temporarily shut down both reactors".
French PM Lecornu 'approves' order for 30,000 air conditioners for hospitals
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has “approved", at the recommendation of Health Minister Stéphanie Rist, an order for “30,000 air conditioners for hospitals", the prime minister’s office announced.
'Living in a warming world requires practical solutions that save lives, don't harm our environment'
As Europe confronts increasingly frequent and intense heatwaves, the conversation around climate adaptation is shifting from environmental policy to public health, education, and social infrastructure.
FRANCE 24's Haxie Meyers-Belkin is pleased to welcome Caradee Wright, Chief Specialist Scientist at the South African Medical Research Council leading the Climate and Health Research Programme.
She argues that schools have become one of the clearest frontlines of climate change.
France introduces measures to limit the heatwave's impact on health services
A deadly heatwave that has suffocated large parts of France for days is now shifting east. With hospitals overwhelmed, authorities have banned evening alcohol sales and public consumption in the capital, while a number of events, including this weekend's pride march, have been cancelled or postponed.
Two Eurostar trains evacuated during Belgium heatwave
Hundreds of passengers were evacuated from two Eurostar trains Friday in Belgium after breakdowns left them without air conditioning in the midst of a sweltering heatwave, the country's rail agency said.
A train from Cologne to Paris carrying about 400 people ground to a halt near the city of Leuven in the morning due to a technical issue of yet unconfirmed nature, Belgium's Infrabel told AFP.
"The passengers were evacuated safely" and provided with bottles of water, before being transferred onto a replacement service, a Eurostar spokesperson said.
Local authorities and the Red Cross aided the operations, the company said.
Toddler dies after being rescued from hot car in France
A toddler has died in hospital after being found in a hot car during a severe heatwave in the French city of Marseille, the health facility said, in the latest such death nationwide this week.
Civil defence said they rushed the 18-month-old to paediatrics after finding the toddler in a state of hyperthermia in a vehicle on Tuesday in the car park of the Timone hospital's university campus. It was not immediately clear when the child died.
Germany hits hottest June temperature on record
Germany saw temperatures break 40C at several locations in the country, according to preliminary weather service data, breaking the previous recorded high of 39.6C for the month of June.
Five different weather stations saw readings over 40 degrees, including 40.9C in the western city of Saarbruecken, according to preliminary data, the German Weather Service (DWD) told AFP.
Western Europe heatwave heads for Balkans
The heatwave moving from Western Europe is set to bring very high temperatures to the Balkans, triggering weather warnings across the region for the days ahead.
Temperatures of up to 39C are expected in some parts of Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro, prompting health warnings, especially for vulnerable groups.
UK hottest June day record broken for third day in a row
The UK broke the record for its hottest-ever June day for the third day in a row with a temperature of 36.9C, the Met Office weather agency said.
The temperature was recorded in Wattisham, Suffolk, in southeast England, the meteorologists said, breaking the previous high of 36.7C set on Thursday.
Increased health risks, limited resources: French hospitals overwhelmed by heatwave
As a result of the high temperatures and heatwave, human health could be at risk. In France there have reportedly been four times as many cardiac arrests. The mayor of Paris has stated that the number of deaths is on the rise. Across the country, hospitals are overwhelmed.
Our colleagues at France Télévision were able to film in the emergency room at Châteauroux, where patients are at their wits’ end.
Scorching record-breaking heatwave 'unequivocally' due to climate change
As Europe bakes under a relentless heatwave, human-caused climate change is "unequivocally" responsible for its intensity, scientists say.
A similar heatwave would have been 3.5C cooler during the day in June 1976. Even compared to 2003 – when tens of thousands of people died in a major European heatwave – the current episode was notably extreme.
FRANCE 24's Kethevane Gorjestani tells us why.
French Riviera spared from scorching heatwave
Three quarters of mainland France is under a “red alert” for the heat. And it may seem odd that the southeastern Mediterranean coast is not under that highest level of warning. So why doesn't the mercury climb as high on the Côte d'Azur in the middle of a heatwave?
The Mediterranean Sea allows the south-east of France to maintain lower temperatures than the rest of the country, as it cools the flow of hot air that builds up over the north-west.
Health authorities on high alert, hospitals overwhelmed
Health authorities across Europe are on high alert as the killer heatwave progresses across the continent.
Reporting from the Canal Saint-Martin area in Paris, FRANCE 24’s Emerald Maxwell says city authorities have temporarily banned alcohol drinking in public. The ban does not include restaurants and cafés with seating areas, she notes.
The measure goes into effect Friday evening in a bid to tackle the increasing pressure on health and emergency services. Hospitalisations have increased and emergency services have been overwhelmed, with staff handling patients with heatstroke conditions this week, explains Maxwell.
Belgium cancels Waterloo battle reenactment due to heat
Belgium has cancelled this weekend's reenactment of Napoleon's defeat at the battle of Waterloo due to the heatwave.
The annual event sees hundreds of enthusiasts dressed up in Napoleonic-era costumes recreate the battle from 1815 before history-loving crowds.
"Waterloo 2026 reenactments cancelled: safety first," said the organisers. "The safety of the public, participants, volunteers, emergency service workers cannot be comprised."
The battle of Waterloo – just south of Brussels – saw a coalition of nations under British commander the Duke of Wellington deal a final defeat to French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte.
France pledges 130 mn euros to cool schools
More than 130 million euros have been allocated to fund cooling systems and renovation works in French schools and nurseries to help them prepare for future heatwaves, according to state-owned utility EDF and several lenders.
Most French schools are not designed to withstand extreme temperatures and lack air conditioning.
On Thursday, French teaching unions called for a strike to protest "unacceptable working conditions".
EDF has now said it would earmark 80 million euros to equip schools, nurseries and daycare centres with cooling systems.
Half of that amount would fund more than 100,000 items of equipment – such as fans, misting devices and air conditioning units – across more than 10,000 establishments by the end of September.
The remainder will be distributed in lump sums of 10,000 euros per facility to help finance cooling systems until the end of June next year.
"As heatwaves increasingly affect our country, we wanted to take concrete action by helping schools, nurseries and daycare centres equip themselves with both immediately available cooling solutions and longer-term improvements," EDF CEO Bernard Fontana said in a statement.
Separately, several groups including lenders Banque Postale and Banque des Territoires said they would earmark 50 million euros to adapt 12,500 schools.
Paris bans public alcohol consumption as heatwave overwhelms emergency services
French authorities said hospitals in and around Paris were overwhelmed amid a record-breaking heatwave, adding that consumption and sales of alcohol would be banned from June 26.
Paris police also told organisers to cancel several public events to avoid overwhelming response services already under pressure due to extreme heat.
FRANCE 24's Emerald Maxwell tells us more from Paris.
At least 150 mn people in Europe face temperatures above 35C
At least 150 million people in Europe, including more than 50 million in Germany and more than 30 million in France, are expected to experience temperatures above 35C on Friday, AFP calculations found.
Maximum temperatures are forecast to exceed 30C for more than 420 million people across Europe (excluding Turkey), around 70 percent of the population.
AFP's analysis, based on forecasts from the German Meteorological Service and 2025 population projections from the Joint Research Centre, is in line with figures from Austrian NGO Klimadashboard.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
