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Europe is enduring an intense heatwave that has shattered local temperature records and been linked to at least 18 deaths in France, including two young children found unconscious in a hot car. The extreme conditions have disrupted schooling and prompted authorities to issue safety warnings as temperatures climb across the continent.
Fatalities and emergency response
French prosecutors and officials say the toll from the heat includes several recent, tragic cases. In the southeast, a prosecutor in Carpentras reported that first responders could not revive a two-year-old and a four-year-old who were discovered unconscious by their mother inside the family car outside their home.
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In the Bordeaux area, local government official Sophie Brocas told France TV that three elderly people, aged between 80 and 95, died over the weekend after suffering heat-related health problems. Separately, a spokesperson for the French Civil Safety service, Jerome Boulanger, confirmed that 13 people drowned on Sunday and Monday.
Records broken as the mercury rises
Monday saw several long-standing temperature marks toppled. Bordeaux recorded 41.9 °C, surpassing last August’s high, while Poitiers reached 41.2 °C, exceeding a record that dated back to 1947. In northern Spain, usually milder San Sebastián was forecast to hit 40 °C on June 22, according to the Reuters Climate Monitor.
The heat has forced closures of many schools in France and elsewhere in Europe as authorities weigh public-health measures against the prolonged warm spell.
What is driving this heatwave?
Researchers describe the event as an Omega block — a persistent high-pressure pattern that resembles the Greek letter, with a dome of hot air flanked by cooler air masses. Clair Barnes, a research associate in extreme weather and climate at Imperial College London, said the pattern is pulling warm air north from North Africa and the Sahara.
“It’s very slow-moving, and it means there’s kind of no wind, no breeze for respite,” Barnes said, explaining why temperatures have become so oppressive in affected regions.
She added that climate change is amplifying both heatwaves and storms, increasing peak temperatures and altering rainfall patterns.
Warnings and wider context
Authorities have urged caution at the coast and inland waterways. Jerome Boulanger advised the public to “swim only in places that are supervised,” highlighting a rise in drownings during recent heat spells. Last year’s heatwaves coincided with a 172% surge in drowning deaths as people sought relief from high temperatures.
The World Meteorological Organization reported in April that Europe is warming at more than twice the global rate, a trend experts say increases the likelihood and severity of such extreme episodes.
