Southern Europe is sweltering under its first major heatwave of the summer, with soaring temperatures prompting emergency measures across the region.

Southern France is already feeling the burn, with temperatures in Marseille nudging 40°C as the first heatwave of the northern hemisphere summer sweeps across southern Europe.

In response, local authorities in the Mediterranean port city have thrown open the doors to public swimming pools, offering free access to help residents cool off.

Elsewhere across the country, schools on the sun-drenched French Riviera have received nearly 250 electric fans in the past fortnight, with Nice also grappling with the early onset of summer heat.

This weekend marks the start of what forecasters say will be an intensifying heatwave across southern Europe, fuelled by climate change and already sending thermometers surging well into the red on what scientists call the world’s fastest-warming continent.

According to Météo France on X, temperatures will exceed 35°C across the southern two-thirds of the country on Monday.

By Tuesday, 38 to 40°C are expected in many regions, including Île-de-France.

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One in three French homes becomes ‘a boiler’ during heatwaves

Southern Europe swelters

Rome is expected to hit 37°C, sending throngs of tourists and pilgrims scurrying to the Eternal City’s 2,500 public fountains in search of a splash of relief.

Further south, Sicily and Naples are set for highs of 39°C, prompting the regional government to ban outdoor work during the hottest hours of the day – a move echoed by Liguria in the north.

Italian trade unions are now calling for the measure to be rolled out nationwide.

Over in Portugal, two-thirds of the country will be on high alert by Sunday, with Lisbon forecast to swelter at 42°C.

Spain, too, is bracing for extreme heat, particularly across the Guadalquivir, Guadiana, and Tagus river valleys, where similar scorching highs are expected.

The Spanish meteorological agency has warned that the country – which has endured a series of deadly wildfires in recent summers – is set for another punishing spell.

Venice, hosting Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos’s wedding on Friday, was no escape either.

Locals and guests alike baked under the Italian sun, with tourists describing sticky nights and relentless humidity.

“There’s no wind, the air’s heavy with moisture, and I can’t breathe at night,” said Alejandra Echeverria, a tourist from Mexico told AFP.

“I try not to think about it, but I drink lots of water and keep moving – if you stop, you risk heatstroke,” added Sriane Mina, an Italian student.

More killer heat and rising seas likely in next five years, UN warns

Global warming to blame

Scientists have long warned that burning fossil fuels is accelerating global warming, with increasingly fierce summer heatwaves across Europe a direct consequence.

This summer is already on track to be one of the hottest, following a year of broken climate records.

The EU’s Copernicus climate service reported Europe’s hottest March on record earlier this year, and 2024 could end up being the hottest year globally to date.

The toll is not just environmental – some estimates suggest weather-related disasters cost the world over $300 billion last year.

(With AFP)

Parts of southern Europe are experiencing an extreme heat wave that is expected to intensify in coming days, as two hot-air masses converge over the continent, bringing punishing temperatures and prompting authorities to issue health and safety warnings. Across Portugal, Spain and France, some areas could exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), the result of a hot-air mass that recently brought record-breaking heat and humidity to the eastern United States, and another from Africa. Germany, Italy and Greece will see highs of 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) or more.

In Portugal, the high Monday in the cities of Beja and Evora is expected to reach 109 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius), according to official forecasts, and the risk of fires in regions that are more prone is also expected to spike. Temperatures in parts of Spain are forecast to peak at 107 degrees on Sunday.

Areas near France’s Mediterranean coast will see temperatures of up to 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit. And parts of Germany, Italy and Greece are forecast to reach 95 degrees.

A strong heat wave in the Mediterranean Sea, currently one of the largest marine anomalies on the planet, is further enhancing heat in the region, with temperatures in Paris and Berlin anticipated to come close to record highs this week.

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To reduce heat-related injuries, officials in Marseille, France’s second-most-populous city, have opened municipal swimming pools to the public free of charge, and the regional government of Sicily has banned outdoor work for some occupations during certain hours.

Heat-related mortality has increased by 30 percent in Europe over the past 20 years, and older adults, young children and people with chronic medical conditions are at particularly high risk for heat-related illness and death.

Rising temperatures in southern Europe reflect a broader global trend — linked to human-caused climate change — of summer heat arriving earlier in June and lingering deeper into September, lengthening the period of potentially extreme weather and raising heat risks, The Washington Post previously reported. This year, heat waves have already hit Canada, the eastern United States and northern Europe.

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By 2050, more than 5 billion people — probably more than half the planet’s population — will be exposed to at least a month of health-threatening extreme heat when outdoors in the sun, according to a Post analysis of climate data, up from 4 billion in 2030 and 2 billion at the turn of the century.

In a report last month, the World Meteorological Agency said it expects there is an 80 percent chance that at least one of the years in the 2025-29 period will exceed 2024 as the warmest on record.

The first heat waves of the summer are hitting Europe, triggering wildfires and health warnings. Weather forecasters say such phenomena are becoming more common each year.

Extreme heat is being felt across Europe, with more in store over the coming days. Though the Wimbledon tennis tournament says it is bracing for its hottest-ever start with temperatures expected to be around 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), southern countries like Spain, Italy, and Greece look set to see temperatures that are far higher still.

In all, high temperatures are expected to affect the entire Mediterranean, from the Iberian Peninsula to the Balkans.

In Andalusia, in southern Spain, temperatures are set to climb to 43 C in a heatwave forecast to last until late next week. Spain’s AEMET state weather service has also forecast high temperatures in the country’s northeastern Zaragoza area.

Spain says medical emergency staff expect to see a surge in heatstroke cases among children, the elderly and those with chronic illness.

Temperatures over 40 C are also expected in neighboring Portugal, where fire warnings have been given for northern inland areas as well as along the Algarve coast.

Authorities say emergency workers expect to treat an increased number of heatstroke victims as temperatures soar Image: Thomas Coex/AFP

Wildfires raging in Greece

In Greece, which is also experiencing its first heat wave of the season with temperatures surpassing 40 C, a wildfire has triggered evacuations south of the capital, Athens, where coast guard ships and fire-dousing helicopters are actively fighting the blaze. Patrol boats have been deployed to the area for a potential sea evacuation.

Here, too, high temperatures and strong winds have worsened the situation.

Athens and its surrounding areas remain on high fire alert due to the prevailing conditions.

France fries as Bezos sweats it out in Italy

The Meteo France weather agency declared this week that the country is experiencing its 50th national heat wave since 1947, with several regions under high-temperature alert.

The weather agency said higher surface temperatures in the Mediterranean had become an “aggravating factor,” meaning that daytime temperatures could reach upwards of 39 C and little respite should be expected at night.

In Italy, 21 cities, including the capital, Rome, have been put under extreme temperature alert. Another city on the list is Venice, where billionaire American businessman Jeff Bezos is making a TV presenter his second wife among crowds of celebrity guests as well as protesters in the tourist destination.

Across the Adriatic, Croatian, Bosnian and Serbian authorities also issued health warnings as temperatures rose and as wildfires raged in Albania.

How Athens is preparing for wildfires — Focus on Europe To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

Stay inside when heat waves hit

All across the EU, residents are being advised to remain indoors during the hottest part of the day if possible — generally from about 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. — though meteorologists say little cooling should be expected at night over the next week.

Though early summer heat waves were known in the past, meteorologists say they are becoming far more frequent as a result of what they say is human-induced climate change.

Statistics from scientists at AEMET in Spain, for instance, documented only two June heat waves between 1975 and 2000. Nine were recorded between 2000 and 2024.

Edited by: Louis Oelofse

Temperatures surpass 33C as storm warning kicks in

8 days ago Share Save Johanna Chisholm & Hollie Cole BBC News Darren Bett Lead Weather presenter Share Save

Watch: Risk of storms as hot temperatures start to peak

The hottest day of the year so far has been recorded in the UK, as a Met Office warning for thunderstorms comes into force. A temperature of 33.2C was recorded on Saturday afternoon in Charlwood, near Gatwick, beating the previous 2025 record set earlier this week. Saturday is expected to be the peak of the heatwave, with temperatures expected to dip into Sunday. The yellow weather warning is in place until 03:00 BST on Sunday for parts of northern England, the Scottish Borders, and north-east Wales. Storms are expected because the humid weather means there is plenty of moisture in unstable atmospheric conditions. They could bring localised flash flooding, large hail and lightning.

An amber heat-health alert in England issued by the UK Health Security Agency remains in force until Monday, as fresh research suggests nearly 600 people could die in the next four days because of the heat in England and Wales. Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Imperial College London predict there could be around 570 heat-related deaths, using decades of UK data, with the greatest number, 129, in London. Prof Antonio Gasparrini, of the LSHTM, said: “Every fraction of a degree of warming will cause more hospital admissions and heat deaths, putting more strain on the NHS.”

Passengers were forced to evacuate a train in south London on Saturday as temperatures reached more than 30C in the capital. A fault on a train near Loughborough Junction brought all services in the area to a halt, three of them outside station platforms, Thameslink and Network Rail said in a joint statement. Passenger Angela Lewis said people onboard had been left on the train for about two hours before being removed, describing the incident as a “bloody nightmare”. Thameslink and Network Rail apologised to affected passengers and said that “without power and air conditioning on such a hot day” it pulled resources from Sussex and Kent “to get personnel on site to safely evacuate passengers as quickly as possible along the track”.

Angela Lewis Ms Lewis said she waited about two hours before being evacuated from the Thameslink train in London

By Friday afternoon, many regions met the criteria for a heatwave – meaning a temperature threshold was sustained for three consecutive days. The threshold varies across different regions, from 25C in northern and western parts of the UK to 28C in south-eastern England. Suffolk became the first area to officially enter a heatwave on Thursday, when temperatures surpassed 27C for a third day.

Humidity has also been increasing, making the heat feel more uncomfortable, particularly at night. On Saturday night, as cooler and fresher air pushes in from the west, the highest overnight temperatures will be restricted to eastern England, where they may fall no lower than 18C. While heatwave conditions are likely to continue, some relief is anticipated on Sunday, when the south and east of England will dip to the high 20s. Elsewhere, cooler air will gradually sweep in from the west. Temperatures will drop further into Monday – but could rise towards the heatwave threshold again in the latter half of next week.

BBC Weather Watchers/Helen Earth An area of high pressure is helping to draw the hot weather in

The National Fire Chiefs Council is urging the public to be careful when lighting barbecues and handling objects, such as glass bottles, that can cause a fire outside. There are currently no hosepipe bans in place, despite the Environment Agency warning water firms at the start of May that action would need to be taken to safeguard water supplies over the coming months. This is because, while reservoir levels are relatively healthy, a very dry spring means there is a medium risk of drought.

While linking climate change with specific individual extreme weather events can be difficult, scientists say that climate change is generally making heatwaves hotter and longer. The World Weather Attribution group says that the chance of reaching 32C in June has increased by 100 times since the pre-industrial era. The chance of a three-day June heatwave had increased tenfold due to human-induced climate change, going from a one-in-50-year event to a one-in-five-year event. Ben Clarke, a researcher at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London, said that with “every fraction of a degree of warming, the UK will experience hotter, more dangerous heatwaves”. He added: “This means more heat deaths, more pressure on the NHS, more transport disruptions, tougher work conditions and poorer air quality.”

Watch: UK crowds celebrate summer solstice on Saturday

Meanwhile, people across the UK made the most of the early morning sun on Saturday to celebrate the summer solstice – the longest day of the year – at sites such as Stonehenge and Glastonbury Tor. Originally a pagan tradition tied to agriculture, marking the solstice now has broad appeal. “It’s just lovely breathing points throughout the year,” Morris dancer Grace told the BBC at Avebury henge, a neolithic stone circle in Wiltshire. “The sun stands still and it gives you a chance to stand still.” Matthew Watkins, a Cardiff resident, described seeing the sun rise over Avebury as “glorious” and “a special moment”. Additional reporting by Sophie Parker and Adam Clerck

CNN —

Millions of people in the West are experiencing a dangerous and historic October heatwave with temperatures so extreme they’d be considered hot during the peak of summer.

The heat has been so potent the United States soared to and tied the highest temperature ever seen in the month of October on Tuesday.

At least 125 places from the West Coast to the Rockies have tied or broken all-time October heat records since the month began. Many others have set daily high temperature records.

It’s another reminder that extreme heat is no longer confined to the summer as the world warms due to fossil fuel pollution.

“Climate change is causing the length of the heat season to increase and is making… fall heat waves like this more frequent,” Kristina Dahl, a climate scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists said. “If we continue to warm the plant by burning fossil fuels, late-season heat waves like this will become much more common.”

California has been at the epicenter of the extreme heat.

Palm Springs soared to 117 degrees on Tuesday and tied the all-time highest October temperature on record for the entire US. It was the hottest reading in the country this late in the year in more than 40 years.

A few locations have been hotter this week than during the summer.

San Jose, California, was one. Thermometers in the city topped out at 102 degrees on July 2, but hit an astounding 106 degrees on Wednesday – 5 degrees higher than the city’s previous warmest October day.

The record-breaking heat began before the calendar flipped to October. Last weekend was part of a sizzling stretch of record-breaking conditions in Las Vegas and Phoenix – two cities where heat has been especially brutal this year.

Five consecutive days of record-breaking September heat in Las Vegas peaked with 104 degree readings on Saturday and Sunday. It was the hottest the city has even been so late in the year.

The heat was and continues to be even more severe and exceptional in Phoenix, which is in the middle of nine consecutive days of record-breaking high temperatures. The city recorded its second-warmest September day when it hit 117 degrees on Saturday, a mark never hit so late in the month. It then had its hottest October day on record Tuesday, topping out at 113 degrees. Wednesday marked the 113th day this year temperatures in Phoenix were at or above 105 degrees – another all-time record.

Phoenix is in Arizona’s Maricopa County where officials say heat was responsible for more than 300 deaths this year. Hundreds of additional potential heat-related deaths are still under investigation, according to the county.

Heat is the deadliest form of extreme weather and climate change is making heat waves more severe, long-lasting and possible at any time of the year. It’s especially dangerous when it fails to cool down enough overnight – another symptom of climate change.

The heat has not been limited to the Southwest and California. Dozens of Colorado cities, including Denver, have set or tied all-time October temperature records since Tuesday. Denver tied its all-time October record on Wednesday when the city hit 89 degrees – the hottest it’s been this late in the year.

‘Dangerously hot temperatures’ will linger

The worst of the heat just peaked for much of the Southwest and parts of the Rockies, but seriously hot conditions will stick around through early next week.

More than 30 million people in the West are still under heat alerts – including 18 million under excessive heat warnings. Nearly 200 additional high temperature records and record-warm low temperatures could be set through the weekend from California to the Rockies.

“Dangerously hot temperatures will be common across many valley, mountain, and inland areas,” the National Weather Service in Los Angeles warned Thursday, underscoring the heat’s wide reach.

Unseasonable heat will persist at least into early next week in the West. Thursday, October 3, to Monday, October 7, shown above. CNN Weather

Highs in the upper 90s to near 100 degrees are forecast in Sacramento through at least Sunday. California’s capital spent the first two days of the month mired in the July-like triple digits.

Even coastal areas, often resistant to the heat, won’t escape it this time. Temperatures will gradually climb in Los Angeles through the weekend and into early next week. By Monday, a high temperature in the low 80s is possible, which could be one of the 10-warmest days of the year.

Phoenix could reach two consecutive weeks of record-breaking heat as it remains stuck in it into at least midweek.

And Denver will climb back into the 80s on Friday and highs will continue to surpass that threshold through at least the middle of next week.

The heat will also increase the risk of dangerous wildfires – especially in California.

“Dry heat like this essentially sucks moisture out of plants and turns them into dry tinder for a wildfire should a spark ignite,” Dahl explained.

A heat wave baked California about a month ago and destructive fires like the Line Fire and Bridge Fire took advantage, roaring to life not long after. Santa Ana wind season typically gets underway in October and could drive fire concerns to the extreme once these violent winds meet tinder-dry conditions.