Europe’s deadly heatwave: 40 drown in France. Which countries are worst hit and what’s causing it?

Posted on by Taiwo Adebulu

France: Météo France has issued a red heat alert for 54 of the country’s roughly 96 departments, covering about half the nation.  Tuesday’s highs are expected to reach nearly 40°C nationwide, with up to 43°C forecast in parts of western France.  Météo France warns that further records, potentially surpassing all previous marks regardless of season, are possible.

United Kingdom: Across southern England and southeast Wales, the Met Office has issued a red extreme heat warning for Wednesday and Thursday.  Southern England is expected to experience temperatures of up to 37°C on Tuesday, rising to at least 39°C by Wednesday and Thursday. This could potentially break the UK’s June daily temperature record. 

Spain: The Spanish state weather agency AEMET has issued red alerts across parts of the country. These alerts warn of dangerous heat reaching 44°C, following a peak above 45°C in Andújar on Monday.  Around 30 monitoring stations were still recording temperatures above 25°C overnight, offering little relief. 

Italy: The health ministry issued its highest-level heat alert for 15 cities. 

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Belgium: Schools and local authorities have taken adaptive measures as temperatures climb, including in Tervuren near Brussels. 

Germany, Portugal, and Switzerland are also bracing for intense heat as the system spreads across the continent, with Germany forecasting highs roughly between 32°C and 39°C in central and southern regions. 

Travel disruptions  

Transport networks across multiple countries have been pushed. In France, some train services were cancelled, including routes between Paris and Brussels, as crowded carriages and broken sleep left many commuters struggling with the heat.  

In Britain, Network Rail has urged passengers to take only essential journeys on Wednesday and Thursday, when temperatures are expected to peak near 39°C, with speed restrictions likely to slow or disrupt services as operators work to protect infrastructure.  

Separately, a series of intense overnight thunderstorms disrupted transport routes in London, including at Heathrow Airport. 

Power outages  

Surging demand for cooling is putting Europe’s electricity grids under pressure.  

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During a comparable heatwave last year, daily power demand rose by as much as 14 per cent across the continent, pushing average daily power prices up two to three times their normal level, though record solar generation in Germany helped keep supply stable.  

Energy analysts warn this round of heat could again strain grids and drive up prices, with research highlighting Italy and Poland as among the countries facing the highest economic costs from outages.  

Turin, in northwestern Italy, suffered major blackouts during an earlier heatwave this year when demand overwhelmed the local network, and forecasters say French nuclear plants could face output constraints if river water used for cooling runs too warm.  

School closures  

Heat has disrupted education in several countries. In France, schools have been affected by the red alert conditions, with authorities adjusting schedules in the hardest-hit departments.  

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In Britain, dozens of schools have said they will close early because ageing buildings are unsuitable for classrooms holding more than 30 children in extreme heat.  

Similarly, in Belgium, a primary school in Tervuren, near Brussels, relocated its final exams to a nearby church after classrooms became too hot for testing.  

What’s causing the heatwave? 

This year’s extreme heat is being driven by a stubborn weather pattern known as an Omega Block. 

Omega Block explained 

What is it? The current heatwave is being driven by a weather pattern known as an Omega Block. This pattern is named for its resemblance to the Greek letter Omega, characterised by a central bulge of hot air that is surrounded by areas of cooler air on both sides. 

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Why it traps heat: The Omega Block is said to create a heat dome effect. This phenomenon traps hot air over western and central Europe, preventing it from dispersing. As a result, temperatures continue to rise each day without the usual cooling that occurs overnight. 

Why it lasts longer than normal heatwaves: The Omega Block is a large and slow-moving feature in the upper atmosphere. This characteristic causes it to remain dormant for an extended period, unlike typical weather patterns that move through quickly. Consequently, the duration of this heatwave is still uncertain. It is being compared to the severe 2003 European heatwave, which resulted in an estimated 15,000 deaths in France alone.  

It’s this pattern that meteorologists are pointing to as the reason heat has settled so firmly over France, the UK, Spain, and neighbouring countries, with little relief in sight until the block finally shifts. 

How the heatwave impacts humans

Elderly people remain the most vulnerable group, just as during the 2003 heatwave, when most deaths occurred among older residents in air-conditioned apartments and retirement homes.

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Children are also at heightened risk; the deaths of two young children in Carpentras illustrate how quickly extreme heat can become life-threatening for the very young. Disrupted sleep and overheated classrooms further strain their already vulnerable situation.

Outdoor workers face direct exposure to extreme daytime temperatures, and business groups in France are adjusting operations to protect employees as the economy slows.

Hospitals are bracing for a rise in heat exhaustion and heat stroke cases, conditions the WHO has flagged as a major and largely preventable driver of heat-related deaths across Europe.   

Cooling centres and similar relief measures are starting to appear in affected areas, such as Paris, offering free cinema tickets to residents under 25 and over 65 to spend time somewhere air-conditioned.   

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Europe remains the world’s fastest-warming continent with temperatures rising roughly twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s. UN climate scientists project that the next five years will likely bring more record-breaking heat, making such episodes increasingly frequent rather than exceptional. 

(With inputs from agencies, BBC and The Guardian)

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