TWO CHILDREN FOUND DEAD IN CAR IN FRANCE AS HEATWAVE SWEEPS EUROPE

Tue 23 June 2026:

Two children, aged two and four, were found dead in their family’s car in southeastern France Monday as temperatures soared across large parts of the country, the local prosecutor said.

“The causes of death are yet to be determined, but the heatwave is the leading line of inquiry,” said Helene Mourges, the prosecutor in the town of Carpentras, where temperatures had been forecast to reach a maximum of 39C.

The deaths follow those of three elderly people, aged between 80 and 95, who died ⁠near Bordeaux over the weekend as a result of health problems caused by the extreme temperatures, an official said. Thirteen more drowned in swimming accidents.

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French authorities on Monday placed half the country – 49 of the country’s 96 mainland departments – on a level 1 danger-to-life warning, urging 35 million people to exercise “absolute vigilance”, avoid strenuous exertion and stay out of direct sun.

A further six departments will be added to the red list on Tuesday, with 35 others remaining on a level 2 orange alert. “Very high temperatures are setting in for the long term across the country,” said the national weather service, Météo-France.

It said temperatures throughout western and central France were likely to exceed 40C from Monday afternoon, hitting 43C in Bordeaux, 41C in Limoges, 40C in Toulouse and Tours and 39C in Paris, and would continue rising until the end of the week.

France’s so-called national heat index, an average of the day and night-time highs measured at 30 weather stations around the country, hit its highest level for June on Monday, the forecaster said.

More than 1,300 schools were closed nationwide on Monday, while another 4,000 rescheduled classes to allow pupils to leave early. One in 10 regional train services around Paris were cancelled amid fears for rolling stock and tracks.

“Many people are going to suffer, because bodies suffer from an accumulation of high temperatures,” said Stéphanie Rist, France’s health minister, visiting a Paris hospital on Monday. She urged people to check on elderly and vulnerable neighbours.

“We’re heading for, at the very least, several days of very, very hot weather. We really don’t know when temperatures will start falling,” Rist later told French television.

“Swim only in places that are supervised,” French Civil Safety service spokesperson Jerome Boulanger said after 13 people were reported drowned from Sunday into Monday. Drowning deaths spiked by 172% in France last year during heatwaves as swimmers tried to cool off.

The heatwave affecting large parts of Europe is known as an Omega block because it takes the shape of the Greek letter, with a bulge of hot air in the middle and cooler air either side, said Clair Barnes, a research associate in extreme weather and climate at Imperial College in London.

“It’s drawing warm air up from North Africa, from the Sahara, and that’s why we have this really intense heat. It’s very slow moving and it means there’s kind of no wind, no breeze for respite,” she said.

Heatwaves ‌and storms ⁠are being intensified by climate change, pushing temperatures higher and causing more rainfall, she said.

UK HEAT WILL BREAK JUNE RECORD SET IN 1976

The Met Office, Britain’s national weather forecaster, said on Monday that a four-day heatwave there could push temperatures above 39 C in some places, easily breaking the June record of 35.6 C set in 1957 and 1976. Just a few weeks ago, Britain had shattered its record high temperature for May.

“Thirty-six degrees is going to be disgusting,” said data scientist Lewis Jennings, out walking in central London.

Italy on Monday issued heatwave red alerts for 12 cities.

Utility Iren was doubling workers’ shifts and adding generators to address sporadic power cuts ⁠in Turin as the electricity grid came under strain, a spokesperson said.

Birds such as swifts, swallows, sparrows and starlings, which make their nests in the eaves of roofs, have been particularly affected by abnormally high temperatures, said Romaine de Jaegere, founder of the Centre for the Rehabilitation of Animals Living in the Wild refuge in Temploux in Belgium.

“Temperatures on the roofs can ⁠sometimes reach 50, even 60 degrees Celsius. So they prefer to jump rather than let themselves die and literally cook in their nests,” De Jaegere said, adding that the shelter had received 150 animals in the last three days.

Scientists have shown that recurring heatwaves are a clear marker of global warming, primarily caused by burning coal, oil and gas – and warn they are set to become more frequent, longer and more intense.

Meteo-France says that of the 51 heatwaves recorded nationwide since 1947, 34 have occurred since 2000 and 26 since 2011.

Scientific studies estimate more than 70,000 people died across 16 countries in the exceptional temperatures Europe experienced in 2003, with France and Italy the hardest hit.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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