Heatwave in France proves deadly as 40 drown; Eiffel Tower, Louvre close early

France experienced its hottest day in the latest heatwave on Monday, as two children, aged 2 and 4, were found dead inside a parked car in the country’s south. Three elderly people also died in their homes from heat as temperatures were forecast to reach up to 43 degrees Celsius. Some 39 million people are under ‘red alert’ warnings for extreme heat.

France is being battered by a deadly heatwave since last week, disrupting daily life and forcing school closures and train cancellations.

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Over 40 people have died due to drowning over the last week, as people turned to swimming in hopes of finding relief from a scorching heat wave. The 40 people who died by drowning since last Thursday were mainly young people, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said.

“It’s not something to be taken lightly, going swimming in unsupervised areas during a heat wave,” said French Sports and Youth Minister Marina Ferrari.

Extreme conditions are expected to last at least until the end of the week, with daytime highs above 104 degrees Fahrenheit in many towns.

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Since France is not made to withstand such extreme hot weather and does not have widespread air conditioning, schools, public transportation and sporting events have been impacted.

Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum close early due to heat

The Eiffel Tower, one of the most visited tourist attractions in the world, which closes late at night as it usually does, closed early on Tuesday because of exceptionally high temperatures.

“Due to the high temperatures forecast, the Eiffel Tower will be adjusting its operations,” said the operator of the monument made of latticed steel girders.

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The Louvre Museum also announced on Tuesday that it would bring forward its closing time to 4 pm, instead of 6 pm, from Wednesday to Saturday because of the heat.

“Further record-breaking temperatures are expected, including some that could surpass all previous records, regardless of the time of year,” Meteo France, the national weather service, said.

Other European countries also grappling with searing heat

Several other European countries like Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom were also grappling with searing heat. Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Human-caused climate change is tied to increasingly extreme weather, and UN climate agency projections say the next five years should shatter more heat records.

The heatwave is exceptionally intense and has already been compared to the one in August 2003 when it caused an estimated 15,000 deaths, many of them among older people in apartments and retirement homes without air conditioning.

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Over the last four years, more than 200,000 people across Europe died from heat-related causes, and most of those deaths were preventable, the WHO’s Europe office said.

Met Office, the UK weather agency, also issued a red extreme heat warning for Wednesday and Thursday.

On Tuesday, multiple train operators across the UK said they were cancelling train services to “ensure the safe operation of the railway.”