A young man jumps from a bridge to cool off in the Canal Saint-Martin, in Paris, France, Saturday. An intense heatwave is gripping Western and Central Europe, breaking records around the continent. Photo by Yoan Valat/EPA
Massive power outages have put extra strain on France during a record-breaking heat wave that’s gripping much of Europe.
Tens of thousands of homes in the western part of France are without power, and temperatures are expected to peak Wednesday.
In Brittany, about 68,000 homes have lost power, and the electricity isn’t likely to be back until at least Wednesday night, authorities said.
More than half of France is under a red “threat to life” heat alert. In the southwestern part of the country, a high of 109 degrees Fahrenheit is expected.
On Tuesday, the country saw the hottest day on record, with average temperatures above 85 degrees. In Pissos, south of Bordeaux, the temperature reached 111 degrees Tuesday. Monday night was the hottest night ever recorded at 85 degrees.
In France, only about 20% to 25% of homes have air conditioning, and few public buildings have it.
France has also experienced an unusually high number of drownings as people seek the water to cool off.
“There is a tragic scourge of drownings,” Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said Tuesday. “The latest figures we’ve received are 40 deaths since June 18. Most of the victims are young people.”
One freelance translator, Anna, 50, who lives in Nantes, France, told The Guardian that the heat wave has cost her more than $280 so far as she seeks air-conditioned workspaces.
“We’ve had temperatures over [104 degrees] for three days in a row, which never happened before,” she said. “It’s impossible to work where I live.”
During another heat wave, she made a list of co-working spaces that offer air conditioning.
“It was too much. It was too difficult. Your brain is not working properly in that heat, and I need my brain. That’s what I work with.”
She’s also been using taxis to get around because there is no air conditioning on public transportation.
Clara, 31, a librarian in Paris, told The Guardian she would like to see a law passed to ensure workers can stop working when it gets above a certain temperature.
“I know what the weather should be like in Paris, and it is not this,” she said. “We are hearing everywhere that this is an unprecedented event and likely to get worse, but my government is doing nothing. The only advice we’ve received is to drink more water. There are few other official guidelines, and no set temperature at which work is cancelled. Everything is offloaded on individuals; it’s on us to do the right thing and protect ourselves while the country burns around us.”
Several tourist attractions in Paris, including the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower have had to close due to the heat.
Other European countries are experiencing record-breaking heat, including Italy, Belgium, Spain and Britain, with Scotland experiencing its own record with a high of about 85 degrees.
In the Lazio region of Italy, which includes Rome and surrounding areas, construction workers and delivery drivers were ordered not to work between noon at 4 p.m. due to temperatures reaching above 95 degrees.
But many people have ignored the order, The Guardian reported. Delivery drivers were widely seen cycling in the heat, not wanting to lose money.
Simona Abbate, a campaigner from Greenpeace, said her organization had found surface temperatures of up to 176 in the area.
“People in this area are working in very high temperatures — higher than what is considered a stress temperature” for the human body, Abbate said. “The climate crisis is impacting above all the most vulnerable people in the population. The people who need to work, who have to work.”
Peak temperatures are expected Friday in the Netherlands and Belgium, and Germany could see temperatures above 104 degrees this weekend. Eastern Europe will get more heat over the next few days as warnings have been issued for Poland, Croatia and Hungary.
Historic June moments through the years
Troops in landing craft approach Omaha Beach on D-Day in Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944. D-Day was the largest seaborne invasion in history and turned the tide of World War II. Photo by UPI | License Photo
