PARIS: Europe braced for another day of intense heat on Wednesday as a record-breaking heatwave continued to grip the continent, leaving tens of thousands of people without electricity, boosting demand for cooling equipment and exposing the region’s limited preparedness for extreme temperatures.
Experts said the prolonged heat is being driven by atmospheric conditions that trap hot air over the region for days at a time. These weather patterns are being intensified by global warming, making heatwaves longer, more frequent and more severe.
France’s national temperature indicator — which measures average daytime and nighttime temperatures across 30 weather stations — reached 29.8°C on Tuesday, marking the highest level since records began in 1947.
Authorities expanded the highest-level heat alert to four additional French departments on Wednesday, bringing the number of affected people to around 44 million. Combined with the 31 departments already under orange alert, more than 90 per cent of France’s population was exposed to extreme heat.
Temperatures ranging between 39°C and 41°C were forecast for Wednesday across large parts of the country, including Brittany, the Paris region and much of southwestern France.
The heatwave also triggered France’s first major power outage during the current spell of extreme weather. A heat-related transformer malfunction left approximately 68,000 households without electricity in the northwestern department of Finistere, authorities said.
Repair crews worked throughout the night following the incident, which occurred late Tuesday, but officials said full restoration of power was not expected before the end of Wednesday.
At its peak, as many as 106,000 customers of the French electricity network were left without power. Scientists have warned that rising temperatures are placing increasing pressure on infrastructure that was not designed for the prolonged and intense heat associated with climate change.
Demand for cooling equipment surged as residents sought relief from the soaring temperatures. In a country where most buildings are not designed to withstand extreme heat, sales of fans and air conditioners increased sharply.
French hypermarket chain Carrefour sold 30,000 cooling units by 6:30pm on Monday, according to Chief Executive Officer Alexandre Bompard, who described the figure as “a thousand times more than on a normal day”.
Online retailer Amazon reported that sales of cooling devices nearly doubled last week compared to the same period in 2025, while electronics retailer Fnac Darty recorded double-digit growth in sales.
Thierry, an electrician in southwestern France, said he had been overwhelmed with urgent requests for air-conditioning installations.
“In theory, you have to submit a request to the owners’ association general meeting” in residential buildings, he said. “But people don’t want to wait.”
Martine Belloc, a 62-year-old retiree in Bordeaux, said living without air conditioning had become increasingly difficult. On Tuesday, she visited La ManuCo, a coworking facility that had opened its doors to elderly residents seeking respite from the heat.
“It’s difficult to live alone and without air conditioning,” she said.
“We’re suffocating”
Tourists were also struggling with the conditions. John Beeler, a 45-year-old American engineer visiting Paris with his wife, described the heat as unbearable.
“Visiting Paris in this heat is awful,” he told AFP while wearing a fisherman’s hat and carrying a small fan.
“We’re suffocating in the streets, we’re suffocating in the subway and we’re even suffocating in our rental,” he said, adding that the couple planned to move to an air-conditioned hotel room.
Elsewhere in Europe, Italy’s health ministry issued red heatwave alerts for 16 cities, including Rome and Milan, on Wednesday.
Meteorologists warned that the heatwave would continue spreading eastward in the coming days.
Poland’s weather service issued high-level heat warnings for the western regions of the country from Thursday through Saturday, with temperatures potentially surpassing the national record of 40.2°C set in 1921.
Croatia also placed parts of its Adriatic coast under red alert for Friday and Saturday due to expected extreme temperatures.
Hungary, which was already under a second-level heat warning, announced that it would raise the alert to the maximum level from Saturday through Tuesday as temperatures continue to climb.
A scientific study published this week concluded that the ongoing heatwave had been “significantly exacerbated by human-induced climate change”. Researchers estimated that without the effects of climate change, temperatures across the affected areas would have been between 2°C and 4°C lower.
Some relief was expected to arrive from the west. Spain’s national weather service said temperatures would begin falling across most parts of the country on Wednesday.
No quick relief
Despite the expected cooling in Spain, meteorologists warned that much of western Europe would continue to endure extreme temperatures through at least Friday.
The Netherlands issued a code orange warning for central and southern regions beginning Wednesday. In Amsterdam, residents holding city passes were offered free access to six outdoor public swimming pools as authorities sought to help people cope with the heat.
The Dutch national railway company, NS, also announced that it would reduce train services on several routes from Wednesday as a precautionary measure.
In the United Kingdom, schools were forced to adapt to the unusually high temperatures.
James Bowen, assistant general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said nearly every school across the country would need to implement measures to protect students and staff.
“Pretty much every school up and down the UK will be having to make some form of adaptation this week in light of the extreme heat,” he told AFP.
“I think it’s fair to say that the school estate in the UK is not well prepared for this level of heat,” he added.
The extreme weather also disrupted tourism and cultural activities. After some of France’s most visited landmarks, including the Louvre Museum and the Eiffel Tower, reduced visiting hours, the management of Belgium’s iconic Atomium monument in Brussels announced that it would close earlier than usual from Wednesday through Friday due to the heat.