Europe Sees Record June Heat as Paris Reaches 40.9C and Britain Sets Daily Marks

An unprecedented heatwave that began hitting Europe on June 20 produced record June temperatures in Paris and Britain while causing road and rail damage, school closures and event cancellations across several countries, France 24 reported. Paris recorded 40.9C on Wednesday. Britain recorded 36.9C, breaking the national record for the hottest June day on three successive days.

Britain's Met Office extended a red heat alert covering southern and eastern England into a third day. Hundreds of schools remained closed and London's emergency services reported a 50 percent increase in calls for help. A teenage boy died after entering a lake in central England, police said.

The surface of the A2 motorway in Germany buckled and ruptured over several lanes on Thursday evening. A cargo train derailed in Sweden late on Thursday after track buckling caused by high temperatures, halting traffic between Stockholm and Gothenburg. A red alert was issued for almost the whole of the Netherlands with temperatures up to 40C expected.

Many schools there were closed. The planned re-enactment of the 1815 Battle of Waterloo in Belgium this weekend was cancelled. Paris police asked organisers of the Solidays music festival to cancel, and organisers of the Pride festival in Paris said they would reschedule.

Alcohol bans and cancellation of mass gatherings were implemented in France. EDF pledged to spend €80 million on cooling systems for schools and day-care centres in France. Patrick Pelloux, a doctor for emergency services in Paris, said 55 deaths occurred in the care of emergency healthcare services in Paris in a 24-hour period, compared with a normal three or four.