A pharmacy sign in Brussels, Belgium, shows a temperature of 44 °C on Tuesday as an early summer heatwave grips large parts of Western Europe. (June 23, 2026) (Photo: Nicolas Tucat / AFP)
Workers sweated in scorching heat on Tuesday and pupils stayed home as large parts of Western Europe suffered from an early summer heatwave.
Schools were closed, outdoor events were canceled and rail services advised people not to travel after Britain, France, Italy and Spain issued red alerts and health warnings for large parts of the country due to the record heat.
France experienced its hottest night since records began, and reported that 40 people had drowned in the past five days as people tried to cool off in water. The operators of the Eiffel Tower have said that the tower will close earlier, at 16:00. It is also expected to close earlier on Wednesday afternoon, while the Eiffel Tower usually only closes at 00:45 during peak hours.
In Barcelona, 76-year-old Jose Farre said the heat was making it harder for him to sleep and even breathe.
“I have a heart condition, I’m diabetic and I feel it very badly,” he said after going shopping in the cooler early hours of the morning.
A massive front of warm air from North Africa has left large parts of Western Europe reeling under heat, Sebastien Leas, a forecaster at France’s weather service, Meteo-France, told AFP.
A cold front off Portugal “acts like a heat pump and pulls up warm air”, he said.
“Higher in the atmosphere, high pressure systems exert pressure on this warm air mass. When warm air is compressed, it gets even hotter.”
Heat is a health hazard
Almost all of Spain was under a heat warning, with parts of the south and north of the country at the highest warning level for “extraordinary danger”, national weather agency Aemet said.
Authorities urged people to take special care of vulnerable persons, drink water and avoid physical exertion during the hottest hours.
However, some workers said they had no choice but to work in the sun.
Valentin Fernandez, who transports furniture and boxes in Madrid, told AFP he was experiencing a “miserable time”, where the mercury rose to 38 °C.
“When the sun starts hitting you, it feels like you want to die. And inside the truck it’s twice as bad… it’s terrible,” he said as sweat drenched his shirt and dripped down his nose.
“We have no choice, until one day we get heatstroke,” he added. “If you don’t work, you don’t eat. That’s just the way it is.”
Italy’s health ministry has issued a red heatwave warning in 15 cities, including Milan and Rome.
Power outages hit Milan and Turin due to the sharp increase in the use of air conditioning.
The hospital service in Parma said 1,068 people had reported to its emergency services in the last three days because of the heat wave.
Schools in Britain close
Dozens of schools in England said they would close early on Tuesday and remain closed for two more days.
“Most of our buildings cannot be adequately cooled and there is little shade outside,” said one school in Buckinghamshire in South East England.
The UK Met Office has issued a rare red heat warning – only the second time – for parts of central and southern England for Wednesday and Thursday.
Temperatures could rise to 40°C, unprecedented for this time of year – a “sobering” prospect, according to Met Office chief scientist Stephen Belcher.
The railway line connecting north-east England to London has issued a warning that people should not travel.
‘Tragic’ drownings in France
From Monday to Tuesday, France experienced its hottest night since records began to be kept in 1947, national weather agency Meteo France said.
Sebastien Lecornu, the prime minister, warned during a crisis meeting of “a tragic series of drownings” and said 40 people, mostly young people, had drowned since 18 June.
In Germany, police said on Monday that five people died in fatal swimming accidents over the weekend.
Two children, aged two and four respectively, were found dead in a car on Monday. It is suspected that they are victims of the heat wave. The incident took place in the southern French town of Carpentras.
At one school in Paris, parents taped survival blankets to windows to lower the temperature inside and pooled money to buy shade sails for the playground.
The school received a few fans, “but they don’t actually lower the temperature in the rooms,” said Gaelle Roubere from the parents’ association at the Marsoulan primary school.
In the coastal town of Beauvoir-sur-Mer in western France, farmer Stephane Delapre told AFP that half of his chickens died on Monday due to the heat.
“In 42 years in the industry, I have never seen this happen,” he said.