Extreme heat grips Europe as UK extends warnings, France shuts down nuclear reactors and deaths rise across continent – live

Key events

Hospitals in England declare critical incidents as machines and IT fail in heat

Andrew Gregory

Health editor

Doctors have sounded the alarm over the disastrous impact of extreme heat on the NHS in England, with radiotherapy machines and MRI scanners failing, critical IT systems stalling and cooling units that serve entire hospitals breaking down.

The hot weather has also prompted a surge in admissions and people arriving at A&E, causing severe overcrowding in some places and exacerbating heat-related pressures on infrastructure.

“Lots of people, especially older patients, are turning up having collapsed or with dehydration,” one physician said. “In terms of inpatients, the conditions are awful due to overcrowding. Very few places have air conditioning and staff are really struggling.”

Older patients in one geriatric ward had been forced to endure temperatures as high as 35C, a second doctor said. Even wards with built-in air conditioning were affected, as some units were shut down to prevent them being damaged by the extreme heat.

Another doctor said their workplace was “unfit to cope”, with patients and staff experiencing “awful conditions” in sweltering wards, clinics and corridors. NHS staff were also navigating the challenge of providing care while sleep-deprived. Like much of the UK population, many have struggled to sleep this week.

Several NHS trusts in England have declared critical incidents as a direct result of the extreme heat. One hospital had done so after its machines failed in multiple areas, a doctor said. Labs used for testing were also affected and two linear accelerator machines, used to treat cancer patients, had stopped working amid the high temperatures.

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Let’s take a quick view at the latest temperature readings from across Europe at 3pm continental, 2pm UK.

Paris 40CNantes 40CBrussels 36CBarcelona 35CFrankfurt 35CGeneva 35CBerlin 34CPrague 34CBudapest 33CVienna 33CLondon 32C

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France shuts down two nuclear reactors in heatwave precaution

France’s main energy provider Thursday shut down two nuclear reactors as an environmental protection measure to avoid discharging too much hot water into rivers already warming in a record-breaking heatwave, AFP reported.

Power plants critical to the country’s electricity production use river water to cool their reactors, which heats the water that is then released back into the river.

The EDF energy group on Thursday said it had temporarily shut down two reactors to comply with temperature limits of the rivers at the Nogent-sur-Seine power plant on the Seine river in northern France, and in Bugey on the Rhone near the southeastern city on Lyon.

AFP noted that the Nogent-sur-Seine plant had already reduced production in another reactor days earlier “to limit the temperature increase between the water withdrawn from the Seine and the water discharged back into it, thereby protecting aquatic plant and animal life”.

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UK lawyers raise concerns about immigration detainees being held in breach of temperature laws

Over in the UK, thousands of immigration detainees are being held behind bars by the Home Office in temperatures up to ten degrees hotter than the maximum permitted. Lawyers are calling on the Home Office to release their clients because of the breach.

According to government rules for these centres “the maximum permitted temperature must not exceed 28 degrees C”. Lawyers are writing to government officials highlighting the fact that temperatures in cells are exceeding the permitted maximum.

One detainee told the Guardian:

“It is unbearably hot in our cells. It is too hot to even wear any clothes. But because we are locked up there’s nothing we can do to cool down.”

Home Office sources said that specialist assessments of options to reduce temperatures were being carried out.

A Home Office spokesperson said:

“We take the welfare of those in our care extremely seriously, and our teams are responding to mitigate the impact of recent high temperatures on Immigration Removal Centres.

Robust measures are in place to support residents, including access to bottled water, summer clothing, sun cream and fully stocked first-aid kits.”

HMIP is about to embark on a full inspection of one of the immigration detention centres, Tinsley House near Gatwick Airport.

A spokesperson said: ”Accommodation for detainees should be suitably ventilated. Although the current weather is unprecedented, heat waves are not uncommon. We expect the Home Office and its contractors to prepare for contingencies such as this, to keep detainees and staff safe.”

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Updated at 15.09 CEST

Extreme temperatures ‘no longer future threat, but present danger,’ London mayor warns

Damian Carrington

Environment editor

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, launched the city’s first heat plan on Thursday.

”Extreme temperatures are no longer a future threat, they are a present danger,” he said. The plan includes retrofitting homes at the highest risk of overheating, more tree cover, and safe access to water for paddling and swimming. A 2025 study found the number of UK homes reporting overheating in summer quadrupled to 80% in a decade.

Measurements taken by Greenpeace found pavements, rail platforms, building sites and other places across London reached surface temperatures of 50C to 60C on Wednesday. The black rubber floor of a playground in Islington was recorded at 53C at 5pm.

“This record-smashing heatwave has turned London into a sticky, sizzling cauldron,” said Mel Evans, Greenpeace UK’s head of climate.

“This isn’t just weather – it’s a public health emergency driven by fossil fuel giants. These abnormal temperatures are stretching homes, schools, transport and our own health to breaking point.”

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UK’s high temperature record for June likely to be broken again today, a day after the previous record

Damian Carrington

Environment editor

The UK’s high temperature record for June is also likely to be broken on Thursday, just a day after the previous record.

The heatwave, supercharged by the climate crisis, drove the temperature to 36.1C at Gosport in Hampshire on Wednesday, beating the previous record of 35.6C set in Southampton in 1976.

Heatwaves are now more severe and more likely because of the carbon pollution from burning fossil fuels, with scientists estimating the current extreme temperatures across Europe are between 2C and 4C higher as a result.

Many thousands of people are likely to have died prematurely in the heat, but the statistical analysis required to determine the number takes time to complete. The UK Health Security Agency found that more than 10,000 people died in Britain owing to summer heatwaves between 2020 and 2024.

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Updated at 14.08 CEST

Three-year-old found dead in car during France heatwave

Over in France, a three-year-old has died after finding himself trapped in a car in the Paris region in extreme heat, a prosecutor said, the third such fatality this week, AFP reported.

The boy had slipped into the family car while his father thought he was napping, then found himself unable to get out with the child lock in the town of Saint-Gratien, the prosecutor said, after a police source and civil defence also reported the death.

The mother was having a nap with the couple’s second child, an 18-month-old, while the father was working in a shed in the garden, he said, citing initial findings.

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UK’s Starmer says government has been holding official-level Cobra meetings on heatwave

Andrew Sparrow

Over in the UK, the outgoing prime minister Keir Starmer said that officials have been meeting in the government’s Cobra emergency committee to discuss how schools and other public services deal with the heatwave.

Asked specifically about schools, he said:

It is very hot and obviously schools will have to take the appropriate measures and each school will gauge for itself what the measures are.

But it is important that we as a government coordinate this across the country and with all of the countries within the United Kingdom, which is what we’re doing.

We’re having Cobra meetings at the official level to monitor what’s going on, give the appropriate advice.

But obviously it falls to me and others to say take care, be sensible with precautions.

And schools are going to have to decide, and they are deciding. most of them finishing a little bit early, or many of them. But they will gauge that according to their local conditions.

Cobra is the government’s emergency committee. Cobra meetings led by officials are not as serious as those led by ministers.

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Updated at 13.46 CEST

Germany set to see temperatures above 40C this weekend and ‘extreme’ heat stress

A heatwave sweeping Europe was starting to peak in Germany on Thursday, with several open-air events cancelled and temperatures expected to top 40C through the weekend, AFP reported.

Large parts of the country are already under “severe to extreme heat stress” with temperatures soaring to around 37C, the German Weather Service (DWD) said.

AFP said that several open-air sports events have been cancelled, including a half-marathon in Hamburg where authorities cited the risk of “an increased demand for emergency and rescue services”.

As we reported earlier, step, rail operator Deutsche Bahn warned customers to avoid travel and said it would refund any tickets in the next few days (11:26).

The mercury will rise further in Germany starting Friday and on Saturday, when almost the entire country is forecast to bake under temperatures of 35 to 41C.

Experts say the current German record for June of 39.6C, recorded in 2019 in Saxony-Anhalt state, could easily be broken over the weekend.

Germany’s overall temperature record is 41.2C, recorded on 25 July 2019.

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Five deaths reported in last 24 hours in Italy as temperatures cross into 40s

Lorenzo Tondo

in Palermo, Italy

Italy’s latest heatwave has claimed five lives in less than 24 hours, as temperatures climbed to 41C across much of the country.

After a 57-year-old man died while working in a field near Lodi, outside Milan, on Tuesday, four more deaths were reported on Wednesday: a 61-year-old vineyard worker in the Piacenza area; a 56-year-old man who suffered a fatal medical emergency while visiting his parents’ grave at a cemetery in Garlasco; a homeless man found dead in a square in Naples; and a worker who collapsed while carrying out maintenance on a water infrastructure site in the Padua area.

The extreme heat has also exposed the strain on Italy’s electricity grid. Repeated power cuts have disrupted air conditioning systems in several major cities, including Florence’s Uffizi Galleries on Wednesday, according to RAI. Museum authorities were forced to limit visitor numbers and temporarily suspend ticket sales as cooling systems struggled to cope.

The current spell of extreme temperatures, the second major heatwave to hit Italy this year as much of Europe swelters, is expected to peak between the weekend and Monday. At least 18 Italian cities have been placed on the highest heat alert. Several regional governments have banned outdoor work during the hottest hours of the day for construction workers and delivery riders, although some workers have protested, saying the restrictions threaten their already precarious incomes.

Italy’s main trade unions have called on the government to draw on emergency contingency funds to compensate workers forced to stop because of the heat. They argue that employees whose jobs expose them to life-threatening temperatures should not have to choose between protecting their health and losing their wages.

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212 deaths reported in Spain as heatwave breaks June temperature records

Stephen Burgen

in Spain

Over the past four days 212 people have died prematurely in Spain as a result of the heatwave, according to scientists using a system for monitoring mortality.

As temperatures rise to 42C in some regions, often not falling below 30C at night, the June heatwave is breaking records that were set this time last year, making it the hottest June since 1950.

According to the meteorological office, between 1975 and 2000 there were two heatwaves in June compared to 10 in the ensuing 25 years.

For Spain overall, there were 129 days of heatwave from 1975-2000 and 329 days since the turn of the century.

Some of the highest temperatures this week have been recorded in the normally cooler north, especially Cantabria and Vizcaya, with Bilbao recording a high of 40ºC yesterday.

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Heatwave creates perfect conditions for surge in mosquitoes, expert warns

As if the heat was not enough, it now looks like current UK weather conditions are perfect for a surge in mosquitoes, leading to bites, an expert has warned.

Those capable of carrying nasty illnesses, such as dengue fever and Zika, could also take hold in the UK in the coming years due to climate change, according to Dr Mojca Kristan, assistant professor in medical entomology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) told PA news agency.

She said:

“Weather conditions in the UK at the moment are perfect for mosquitoes. They like warmth as well as standing water to lay their eggs in.

May was too dry, but we’ve had rain in June so there’s water around and, as the weather continues to warm up, I would expect mosquitoes to emerge and start biting to get the blood they need to breed.”

She suggested people could take precautions to ensure they are not bitten.

“To protect yourself from bites, wear insect repellent and cover your skin with long sleeves, plus wear socks in the evening as mosquitoes like biting around ankles,” she said.

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Government urged to refurbish schools to respond to risks of extreme heat events

Richard Adams

Education editor

Meanwhile, England’s government has been warned it will take until the year 2246 for the country’s 22,000 state schools and colleges to be refurbished to cope with the climate crisis at current rates of progress.

In a letter to the Department for Education, the general secretary of the National Education Union, Daniel Kebede, said this week’s widespread schools closures in the south of England shows the need for urgent action.

Kebede said:

“Air conditioning now needs to be rolled out to schools to deal with the health risks associated with extreme heat events. We would urge you to set out a timetable for ensuring that schools have this protection, prioritising schools with the greatest need.

There has been a welcome increase in expenditure on the school estate through the 2025 spending review. However at the current rate of progress it will take 220 years to refurbish all schools, which is why further investment … is needed to futureproof the school estate.”

Last year the government announced almost £20bn investment in school rebuilding through to 2035, to overhaul more than 750 schools and sixth-form colleges. It has also opened a new “renewal and retrofit” programme of £710m for schools and colleges to increase resilience to climate change by 2030.

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Met Office extended red extreme heat warning into Friday with up to 38C in east, south-east England

The Met Office’s red extreme heat warning has been extended into Friday night.

“The exceptional spell of hot and humid weather will continue across this region, with impacts to the general population highly likely,” it said.

It explained:

“The heatwave which is affecting a large part of England and Wales is set to continue during Friday. The focus of the highest temperatures on Friday is likely to shift towards east and southeastern England, where maximum temperatures in the shade could exceed 36 Celsius, perhaps rising to 38 Celsius in some places. However, following another very warm night, the greatest likelihood of high impacts are expect to be within this Red warning area during Friday.

The heat will be accompanied by high humidity, exacerbating the potential for discomfort and health impacts, with very warm and humid night times also reducing the ability for people to recover overnight.Significant disruption to daily life is likely and the public should take every effort to make precautions and adapt their daily routines where possible to cope with these levels of heat, which up to now have been extremely rare for the UK.”

The agency also confirmed that the UK record for the highest June minimum temperature has been provisionally broken with 23.5C reported overnight in Bute Park, Cardiff.

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Updated at 12.20 CEST

It’s not just hot days, but warm nights that pose higher health risk, experts say

Ajit Niranjan

European environment correspondent

Hot days can be brutal. But it’s the warm nights some doctors fear most.

Parts of the UK and western Europe have seen consecutive “tropical nights” this week, where overnight temperatures have not fallen below 20C. France broke its record for the hottest night yesterday, which had been set just two nights before.

The body is supposed to recover at night, lowering core temperatures and slowing the heart and lungs. That recovery does not happen when nights are too warm, which means the body remains under strain around the clock, said Armel Castellan, an extreme heat expert at the joint climate and health office of the World Meterological Organisation and the World Health Organization.

“This is why, when assessing the health impact of a heatwave, minimum temperatures can be more telling than the peak afternoon high,” said Castellan.

“A day that reaches 38C but drops to 18C overnight is very different from a day that reaches 36C and stays above 25C through the night. The second scenario carries a much higher health risk.”

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As we approach midday in Europe, let’s take a quick look at the latest readings across the continent.

Paris 37CFrankfurt 34CRome 33CCologne 32CBologna 32CMunich 32CBerlin 32CBrussels 31CMilan 31CPrague 30C

In comparison, London looks almost comfy at 28C.

We are still expecting large parts of France to be in high 30s approaching 40, and Germany in mid 30s later today.

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