Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said 40 people have drowned in France since Thursday due to the heat wave. Temperatures reached record levels in several major cities, and heatwaves reached their peak in several European countries.
“Swimming unsupervised in the heat is not something to be taken lightly,” Sports and Youth Minister Marina Ferrari told French radio.
France, along with Spain and Italy, has so far been hit hardest by the heat wave.
France had its hottest June day on record on Monday and its warmest on record on Monday night, with a low average temperature of 21.6C and more than half the country on red alert, according to Météo France.
one side, spain On the third day of a nationwide heat wave, the maximum temperature is expected to exceed 40 degrees in some areas, with red warnings issued in Andalusia in the south, Cantabria in the north, and the Basque Country.
Spain is more exposed to the effects of climate change than any other country in Europe. The state’s meteorological service, Aemet, said June heat waves were becoming increasingly common, with 10 heat waves recorded in mainland Spain between 2000 and 2025 and only two in the past 25 years.
and ItalyA red heat wave warning has been declared in 15 cities across the country. Rome, Milan, Florence, Turin, Venice. This alert indicates a condition that may pose a health risk to healthy adults as well as the elderly or chronically ill.
France’s sports minister said too many people were trying to cool off in rivers and canals without necessarily considering the risks.
Among the dead was a 13-year-old girl who did not know how to swim but had gone swimming with her family in the Seine River in Fontaine-la-Port on Sunday evening.
