Europe heatwave live: UK braces for record-breaking tempe...
https://www.theguardian.com/profile/mark-saunokonoko·2026-06-24·via The Guardian
Opening summary
Europe is braced for another day of an unprecedented heatwave that has smashed records in many countries.
Italy’s health ministry has declared a red heatwave alert in 16 cities for Wednesday, including Milan and Rome, and in the UK, temperatures are expected to reach 40C in some areas.
The extreme weather is being driven by atmospheric and circulation patterns that keep hot air trapped in place for days, causing the mercury to slowly rise, with these factors exacerbated by global heating, experts say.
People swim at Canal Saint-Martin to cool off on Tuesday. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
The UK is braced for record-breaking temperatures, with schools to close and people urged not to travel. Temperatures could hit 40C on Wednesday and Thursday in some parts of England and Wales and a red weather warning for extreme heat is in place covering an area stretching from London to Swansea and Somerset to Birmingham.
On Tuesday, France registered its hottest day on record as 40 people across the country were confirmed to have drowned while swimming in unsupervised areas over the last few days.
More than 90% of the French population is exposed to extreme heat – government data shows – with temperatures of 39C to 41C expected on Wednesday from Brittany to the Paris region, and in much of the south-west.
From Wednesday until at least Friday, central and southern Netherlands will be under a code orange for extreme heat. Anyone living in Amsterdam with a city pass may swim for free in six city outdoor pools, while the national rail company will run fewer trains on a number of routes from Wednesday due to the expected heat.
In the coming days, the heatwave is expected to extend into eastern Europe.
Poland’s weather service issued high-level heat warnings for the western part of the country from Thursday to Saturday, forecasting temperatures could break records.
Croatia’s popular Adriatic coast was also put under red alert for Friday and Saturday.
Hungary, already under a second-level heat alert, said it was raising that to the maximum level from Saturday to Tuesday as temperatures continued to rise.
The extreme heat is expected to cause problems for parents today as schools shut early or close to protect pupils.
Almost 100 schools in Somerset will be fully closed on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the council. And about 100 schools will be at least partially closed over the next two days in Buckinghamshire, along with 86 schools in Gloucestershire, according to council data.
The Guardian’s Richard Adams and Fiona Harvey have written this timely piece about how the UK’s failure to plan for rising temperatures has left UK’s schools sweltering.
Temperatures could hit 40C today in some parts of England and Wales.
A red weather warning for extreme heat covering an area stretching from London to Swansea and Somerset to Birmingham was issued by the Met Office from 9am on Wednesday to 9pm on Thursday.
During the peak of the heatwave on these two days, the temperature could come close to the UK’s all-time high of 40.3C, measured in Lincolnshire in July 2022.
The latest heatwave is also expected to surpass the record for June of 35.6C set in Hampshire in 1976.
Here’s Wednesday’s forecast for the UK from the Met Office, according to its most recent update before midnight.
Some low cloud is possible to start the day but this will clear quickly to bring wall-to-wall blue skies for many. It is going to be an exceptionally hot day ahead with both amber and red extreme heat warnings in places.
The temperatures in some parts of the UK did not drop below 20C overnight.
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Opening summary
Europe is braced for another day of an unprecedented heatwave that has smashed records in many countries.
Italy’s health ministry has declared a red heatwave alert in 16 cities for Wednesday, including Milan and Rome, and in the UK, temperatures are expected to reach 40C in some areas.
The extreme weather is being driven by atmospheric and circulation patterns that keep hot air trapped in place for days, causing the mercury to slowly rise, with these factors exacerbated by global heating, experts say.
People swim at Canal Saint-Martin to cool off on Tuesday. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
The UK is braced for record-breaking temperatures, with schools to close and people urged not to travel. Temperatures could hit 40C on Wednesday and Thursday in some parts of England and Wales and a red weather warning for extreme heat is in place covering an area stretching from London to Swansea and Somerset to Birmingham.
On Tuesday, France registered its hottest day on record as 40 people across the country were confirmed to have drowned while swimming in unsupervised areas over the last few days.
More than 90% of the French population is exposed to extreme heat – government data shows – with temperatures of 39C to 41C expected on Wednesday from Brittany to the Paris region, and in much of the south-west.
From Wednesday until at least Friday, central and southern Netherlands will be under a code orange for extreme heat. Anyone living in Amsterdam with a city pass may swim for free in six city outdoor pools, while the national rail company will run fewer trains on a number of routes from Wednesday due to the expected heat.
In the coming days, the heatwave is expected to extend into eastern Europe.
Poland’s weather service issued high-level heat warnings for the western part of the country from Thursday to Saturday, forecasting temperatures could break records.
Croatia’s popular Adriatic coast was also put under red alert for Friday and Saturday.
Hungary, already under a second-level heat alert, said it was raising that to the maximum level from Saturday to Tuesday as temperatures continued to rise.
