Europe’s record-breaking heatwave is disrupting daily life across the continent, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius, hundreds of heat-related deaths feared, and viral videos showing eggs frying on roads and shopping carts melting in the sun.
With temperatures rising, the number of deaths across Europe has also increased, with over 1000 excess deaths that were previously predicted in France alone. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on his X post about how Europe is the “fastest-warming continent on Earth”, with temperatures rising at nearly twice the global average.
According to Al Jazeera, at least 40 people died by drowning in France. Germany recorded another 2 deaths due to separate swimming accidents.
Overfilling Morgues, overwhelmed cemeteries
Elisabeth Charrier of the National Funeral Federation said funeral home occupancy has risen to more than 60% nationwide, compared with the typical summer range of 30% to 45%, according to news agency AFP.
According to AFP, she spoke about a possible “domino effect”, adding that “people have to go outside Paris – into the inner or outer suburbs, or even further – to find space and be able to pay their respects.”
“What may complicate matters is the extension of waiting times for cremation slots or burial space in cemeteries. Cemetery staff cannot dig graves much faster, and cremation slots fill up very quickly,” she said.
What are clips circulating on social media?
The majority of the clips include those of people from France, Germany, and other parts of Europe, depicting how warm their cities have become by frying eggs.
🥵 It’s so hot in Poland that people are frying eggs outdoors
In Warsaw, a woman left a frying pan in the sun and, after a while, cooked an egg on it.
Poland is in the grip of an extreme heatwave, with temperatures approaching 40°C in some areas. On the bright side, you can… pic.twitter.com/YKzKdUZhft
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) June 28, 2026
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One such user took the frying pan to the street, placed it on the hot pavement under the sun, and began frying the egg, showing how it had been perfectly cooked without even needing an induction.
Another such video showed lids of drains melting off, tyres of trucks and cars melting on the road, and melted and deformed shopping carts and toy cars left too long in the sun.
Objects inside the stores were not faring much better, with food items such as chocolates visibly folding over on the shelves, having melted inside the packets, and hanging bananas inside the shop falling to the ground after peeling from the intense heat.
🥵 Germany is literally melting in the heat
In Leipzig, the extreme temperatures caused the sealant used around tram tracks to melt. It seeped into the rails and track switches before hardening into large clumps.
This is what the record-breaking heatwave is doing to Germany👇 pic.twitter.com/LfbLkCRGml
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) June 29, 2026
Why is the heat rising?
Experts say 43°C is physiologically stressful everywhere, but environmental factors decide how dangerous it gets. Dr Palleti Siva Karthik Reddy Spoke with The Indian Express and explained that humidity, direct solar exposure, wind patterns, nighttime cooling and urban heat retention significantly raise heat stress.
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Children cool off in a fountain in front of Berlin Cathedral as temperature rise in Berlin, Germany, during a summer heat wave, Friday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Dr Manjusha Agarwal, in an interview with The Indian Express, adds that high humidity reduces sweat evaporation, while heat-retaining concrete surfaces and poor ventilation make it harder for the body to cool down. Many European homes, built to retain warmth through long winters rather than dissipate it in summer, trap heat indoors – keeping temperatures dangerously high even after sunset.
(Written by Nityanjali Bulsu, who is an intern at The Indian Express.)
