With temperatures forecast to reach 38-40C in parts of England and Wales, Britain’s national weather forecaster issued a rare red weather warning covering an area stretching from London to Swansea and Somerset to Birmingham from 9am on Wednesday to 9pm on Thursday.

These were reserved for the most severe events, the Met Office said, meaning this heatwave was expected to bring “severe and significant impacts” including widespread health risks for many – not just those who were normally more vulnerable to the heat – and even danger to life.

The alert also warned that “substantial changes” in working practices and daily routines would be required, and indicated a high risk of failure of heat-sensitive systems and equipment, bringing the loss of power and other essential services, such as water, electricity, gas or mobile phone services, PA Media reports.

An amber weather warning is also in place for a larger area of England and Wales between Monday and Thursday.

A yellow warning for thunderstorms is in place until 9pm on Monday, covering an area stretching between Bristol and Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

Welcome to today’s coverage of the deadly heatwave in Europe.

Rare red warnings have been issued in the UK over extreme temperatures that are set to hit record highs for June this week as a fierce heatwave grips Europe.

Forecasters say the heatwave could see temperatures hit 38C to 40C in some parts of England and Wales, smashing the June record set in 1976 by several degrees as human-driven climate change intensifies the impact of a “heat-dome” settling over western Europe.

In France a heatwave red alert has been issued to more than half of the country’s departments, affecting about 39 million people, and at least 18 have died – including two children left in a hot car – since the weekend.

French prime minister Sebastien Lecornu was scheduled to hold a crisis meeting on Tuesday, an aide said. More than 1,350 schools have been shut due to the heat.

The UK’s hot conditions – which had been very rare there until now – would be accompanied by high humidity and very warm nights, which would make it hard for people to recover overnight, forecasters said.

Italy on Monday issued heatwave red alerts ​for 12 cities. In France a nuclear plant in the south-west near Toulouse switched off a reactor because cooling water drawn from a nearby river had got too warm, a spokesperson said.

In other developments:

• In south-east France, first responders were unable to resuscitate two children, aged two and four, who were found unconscious by their mother in ​the family car outside their home on Monday, a prosecutor in Carpentras said.

• The deaths followed those of three elderly people, aged between 80 and 95, who died ⁠near Bordeaux over the weekend as a result of health problems caused by the extreme temperatures, an official said. Thirteen more drowned in swimming accidents.

• In San Sebastian, in Spain’s traditionally cooler north, ⁠the temperature was set to reach 40C, more than double the city’s historic average for 22 June, according to the Reuters Climate Monitor.

• Belgium’s heatwave is forecast to last a week with temperatures “the hottest ever recorded”, warned the IRM meteorological institute’s head of forecasting.

• Paris was due to register its highest temperature for June, reaching 38.4C, according to preliminary numbers from the Meteo-France.

• Germany saw a spike in fatal swimming accidents, with authorities reporting five deaths over the weekend. Police said on Monday that several heat-stricken passengers were treated by emergency services at Frankfurt airport the previous day after their plane was held for more than an hour on the apron before take-off.

• In Spain, temperatures were 5-10C above normal for this time of year, and more than 10C in some northern areas, the Aemet weather agency said.
  With news agencies