Europe's Scorching Summer: Record-Breaking Heatwave Grips Continent

A record-breaking heatwave is sweeping across Europe, causing numerous countries to issue extreme heat alerts. France, in particular, is grappling with the intense heat, as 84 out of 96 mainland regions, known as departments, are currently under an orange alert. Agnès Pannier-Runacher, France's Climate Minister, has described the situation as "unprecedented."

Heat warnings are also in place for parts of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, the UK, and Balkan countries including Croatia. Both Spain and Portugal experienced their hottest June days on record over the weekend. El Granado in Andalucía saw a temperature of 46°C on Saturday, while 46.6°C was recorded in the town of Mora in central Portugal on Sunday.

Many countries have emergency medical services on standby and are urging residents to remain indoors as much as possible. Nearly 200 schools across France have been closed or partially closed due to the heatwave, which has persisted for over a week and is expected to peak mid-week.

Education Minister Elisabeth Borne is working with regional authorities to determine the best ways to care for schoolchildren or to allow parents to keep their children at home. Several forest fires broke out in the southern Corbières mountain range on Sunday, leading to evacuations and the closure of a motorway. They have since been contained, according to fire authorities.

Twenty-one Italian cities, including Rome, Milan, and Venice, are also on the highest alert, as is Sardinia. Mario Guarino, vice president of the Italian Society of Emergency Medicine, told AFP news agency that hospital emergency departments across the country have reported a 10% increase in heatstroke cases.

Parts of the UK could experience one of the hottest June days ever on Monday, with temperatures of 34°C or higher possible in some parts of England. Much of Spain is on track to record its hottest June on record, with heat alerts still in place.

"I can't sleep well and have insomnia. I also get heat strokes, I stop eating and I just can't focus," Anabel Sanchez, 21, told Reuters news agency in Seville. Similar sentiments are being expressed in Portugal, where seven districts, including the capital, Lisbon, are on the highest alert level.

The German Meteorological Service has warned that temperatures could reach almost 38°C on Tuesday and Wednesday, potentially setting more record-breaking temperatures.

The heatwave has also affected shipping in the Rhine River, limiting the amount of cargo ships that can transport and raising freighting costs. Countries in and around the Balkans have also been struggling with the intense heat, although temperatures have begun to cool slightly.

Firefighters in Turkey are actively working to put out hundreds of wildfires that have broken out in recent days. A fire in the Seferihisar district, 50km south-west of the resort city of Izmir, is being fueled by winds and has already destroyed around 20 homes and some residential areas have had to be evacuated.

Wildfires have also broken out in Croatia, where severe heat warnings are in place for coastal areas. Temperatures in Greece have been approaching 40°C for several days, and coastal towns near the capital Athens last week erupted in flames that destroyed homes, forcing people to evacuate.

On Wednesday, Serbia reported its hottest day since records began, while a record 38.8°C was recorded in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday.

The hottest-ever June temperature was recorded in Slovenia on Saturday. The capital, Skopje, in North Macedonia reached 42°C on Friday and is expected to remain in that range.

While the heatwave poses a potential health risk, it is also impacting the climate. Higher temperatures in the Adriatic Sea are encouraging invasive species such as the poisonous lionfish, while also causing further stress on alpine glaciers that are already shrinking at record rates.

The UN's human rights chief, Volker Turk, warned on Monday that the heatwave underscores the need for climate adaptation, moving away from practices and energy sources like fossil fuels that contribute to climate change.

"Rising temperatures, rising seas, floods, droughts, and wildfires threaten our rights to life, to health, to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and much more," he told the UN's Human Rights Council.

Heatwaves are becoming more common due to human-caused climate change, according to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Extreme hot weather will happen more often - and become even more intense - as the planet continues to warm, it has said.

Richard Allan, Professor of Climate Science at the University of Reading in the UK, explained that rising greenhouse gas levels are making it harder for the planet to lose excess heat.

"The warmer, thirstier atmosphere is more effective at drying soils, meaning heatwaves are intensifying, with moderate heat events now becoming extreme.