Eiffel Tower and Two Paris Museums to Close Early This Weekend Amid Heatwave

The Eiffel Tower will close at 4 pm on Saturday and Sunday. The Louvre will close at 4 pm from Friday through Monday. The Musée d'Orsay will close at 5 pm from Saturday through Wednesday. Météo-France placed 24 departments in northwestern France under red heat alert on Saturday.

Those departments are home to 22.2 million people. Another 59 departments remain under orange warnings. Temperatures are forecast to reach 35°C to 38°C across most regions, with peaks up to 39°C from Burgundy to Pays de la Loire, Euronews reported.

High temperatures are expected to persist until Bastille Day on July 14. Many towns have cancelled Bastille Day fireworks displays because of elevated fire risk and dry conditions. Wildfires have burned twice as much land this year as in the same period last year, France 24 reported.

France recorded 2,025 excess deaths linked to the June heatwave and 300 excess deaths linked to the late-May heatwave, according to official figures. This is the third heatwave to affect the country since May. "A single second of inattention can put families at risk, endanger those who protect us and destroy our countryside," President Emmanuel Macron said on July 11.

Emmanuel Grégoire, the mayor of Paris, called a crisis meeting on Friday to help prepare for the hot spell. Paris will extend heatwave measures, with parks and swimming pools open longer, drinking water stations available, and additional support for vulnerable residents.

At least 12 people died and more than 1,400 were evacuated in the southeastern province of Almería, Spain, after a fire this week.

Spain's national weather agency AEMET said high temperatures were expected across much of the Iberian Peninsula on Saturday afternoon, with highs of up to 36°C to 38°C. The River Po in northern Italy is facing a drought amid the sweltering conditions, and the Po River District Basin Authority has called the situation "critical".