Red heat alerts issued as Europe hit by heatwave BBC News

Heat warnings are in place across Europe as the continent faces record temperatures. Half of France is under a red alert and just recorded its hottest night since records began. Parts of western France climbed to 42 degrees Celsius or 107 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday afternoon. Authorities are taking steps to keep people out of the sun, including closing the Eiffel Tower early. At least 40 people have drowned over the last few days while trying to cool off. In the UK, temperatures are expected to rise in the next 24 hours to above 35 degrees Celsius or 95 degrees Fahrenheit. A red warning for extreme heat comes into effect starting 9am UK time on Wednesday across parts of England and Wales. Scientists say the heat is part of a wider pattern of man-made climate change. Our climate editor Justin Rowland has the latest report. First came the storms, sweeping across the south and west of England overnight, bringing 29,000 lightning strikes, according to the Met Office. It set this home in Bristol alight, one of several fires caused by lightning. And the rain overwhelmed streets and homes. The London Fire Brigade attended some 400 call-outs. This is weather. But in our warming climate, scientists say torrential downpours are more likely. And so is the extreme heat that engulfed much of the UK during the day. And the country's infrastructure was feeling the strain. More than 300 schools will be partially closing this week. And Britain's biggest train company, Govia Thameslink, warned passengers not to travel tomorrow unless it is absolutely necessary because of speed restrictions for safety. The kind of heat the UK is experiencing can have insidious impact on our bodies. Our bodies have to work a lot harder in heat. So it means your heart has to pump harder. It means all of your biological mechanisms have to work harder in the heat. And for the elderly or for children who are less able to regulate their internal body temperature, it puts them under additional strain. Some local authorities are laying on cool spaces like this community centre in Tottenham in London. Does your flat get hot? You can't say that. It literally is a chilling space. It's an air-conditioned sanctuary where people can get respite from the sweltering heat. It's just so refreshing to come in here and it's like you're in your own little fridge. Walking from out there to here was just a relief. Especially with half of us that are menopausal, it was a relief. If you have that and you have heat, it's not good to be around us. The fact our towns and cities are beginning to provide these cool spaces is a sign of the UK's new climate reality. In a week of brutal heat, of storms and flooding, our homes, schools, hospitals, roads and drains are being tested by extremes they were never designed to endure. And the uncomfortable truth is this. In some cases, they simply can't cope. And this heatwave isn't over yet. It's forecast to build to a peak tomorrow and Thursday that looks set to see some UK temperature records shattered. Justin Rolat, BBC News. We mentioned that extreme heatwave in France as well. We can speak now to Jamie Smith-Mayer, a France-based journalist who's joining us. Jamie, thanks for being with us. Tell us a bit about this heatwave in France and why it's been so deadly. Yeah, indeed. What we're hearing there about the records possibly in the UK and the word record here is something that we can also mention. And that's because there's been a number of records shattered in France. The overall absolute high daytime temperature was actually reached today. You mentioned the overnight nighttime tropical temperatures as well, which have been relatively extreme. And where I am just now in Strasbourg in the east of France, the temperature is still around 27 degrees here, which is slightly cooler actually than the rest of France, the west around 30 degrees. And we mentioned there that this heatwave period is being considered as deadly. And there have been a recording of 40 deaths so far, 40 drownings, I should say, so far, and is being watched closely. Those were people who went simply into water, unsupervised waters to cool off in case of a thermic shock, and also getting caught in waters where they were undercover in rivers and such like. We've simply just ski and it's relatively unsupervised areas. There is increased concern as well with a special government meeting that we've been called today about the numbers of deaths currently and that potentially rising. And why is that of such concern is because France looks back to the year of 2003, when an extended heatwave saw 15,000 heat-related deaths over that summer. Now, the French government has said things have changed. There's an earlier warning in place today about the heatwave period, but there is still extreme concern. A reminder as well that this is just the beginning of the summer. We're just beyond the summer solstice here. So these extreme temperatures during the days where daylight hours are also very long. Amid that concern, what are authorities then doing to try to keep people safe? So the first and foremost is there's also a record in terms of the number of departments that are under a red alert, a red warning. That's for more than half of France. And that simply means as well, advice to stay inside during the peak hours of heat in the afternoon. There's encouragement as well for businesses to allow for home working or remote working where it is also possible. Schools as well, local authorities have been allowed to decide to close early or close classes in the afternoon to allow children to get home as buildings here are just not set up for this high level of extreme heat. And we heard about in the UK there, these sort of cooling off spaces that are being opened up. Well, that's also the case across cities like in Paris and elsewhere where gardens and parks are being opened up exceptionally into late hours. Some museum and public library space is opening up. But on the flip side of that as well for tourists in Paris today, we have heard that the Eiffel Tower closed early and the Louvre Museum, two of France's and the world's most visited monuments closed due to the extreme heat. So it's a sense of caution and a wide question about adapting our cities to the extreme heat. And the truth is today, our cities in France and elsewhere in Europe are just not quite ready for these periods of heat wave and extreme that we are seeing. Yeah, Jamie, just quickly before we let you go, are people talking about the causes of this? What discussions have there been about the role of climate change? Yeah, well, what's been particularly difficult here for people as well as in the last, this is not the first time in this season. In fact, just in May, there was another period of heat wave just before, particularly early and just came after a period of unseasonably low temperatures, number of people turning the heating on again at the beginning of May. So the talk here about is this climate related is definitely being discussed. There's actually a big debate here about air conditioning at the moment, traditionally not set up in France, and whether that is the step forward or is that just a short term solution and not really looking at the longer term solutions of future proofing our cities of greening our cities. So it is absolutely part of the debate today. But the question will be is, will this last longer than the heat wave itself and trigger longer term policy change? Some would hope it will. But in any case, people are feeling the heat and that is triggering this conversation, most definitely.