PARIS, 21 June. - (ANA) - France put emergency services and military forces on wildfire alert, restricted public alcohol consumption and canceled some outdoor sports events to cope with a heat wave unfurling across parts of Europe. Multiple drowning deaths have been reported.

 

About a third of France is under the heat red alert Sunday and temperatures are expected to reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on Sunday in some areas, in a country where air-conditioning isn’t widespread. The forecast for Monday is even hotter.

 

The Eiffel Tower and other Paris venues set up misting stations to cool crowds, among a raft of measures announced by national and local authorities to minimize risks. Tourists in Rome sought relief in fountains. Spain’s Basque Country canceled some sports and cultural events.

 

More than 200,000 people across Europe died from heat-related causes over the last four years, and most of the fatalities were preventable, the World Health Organization’s Europe office said this month. More above-average temperatures are expected this summer, which can cause heat exhaustion and life-threatening heat stroke.

 

Human-caused climate change is tied to increasing extreme weather events and U.N. climate agency projections say the next five years should shatter more heat records. A rapid study found that human-caused climate change was responsible for killing about 1,500 people in an unusually early European heat wave last month.

 

In this latest European hot spell, French media reported that four children drowned Saturday. - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/21 June 2026 - - -