France issued a red heatwave alert across more than a third of the country for Sunday as a ferocious heatwave dug in and the government banned the consumption of alcohol during the annual Fete de la Musique festivities.
The prolonged heatwave, which began earlier this week, has disrupted the country, forcing the cancellation of dozens of trains and the suspension of classes.
Authorities are also concerned about how the annual Fete de la Musique celebrations will unfold across the country on Sunday when musicians take over the streets with free performances and revellers party into the night.
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"Very high temperatures are settling in for the long term across the country," Meteo-France said as it announced the highest heatwave warning for 35 of France's departments, or administrative regions, for Sunday.
Paris is one of the regions on the red-alert list.
According to AFP's calculations, around 26 million people are to be affected by the alert. Another 45 departments will be under orange alert.
"The combination of alcohol, heat and proximity to water - those are three risk factors that don't mix well," Paris mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said late Friday.
On Saturday, the government said that alcohol consumption during the annual street festivals would be banned in departments under red heatwave alert.
"Prefects will issue decrees banning alcohol consumption in public spaces in the departments under red alert," the government said in a statement following a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu.
"For all events organised by the state and its agencies, instructions have been given not to offer alcohol," added Lecornu's office.
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The government has called for limits on alcohol consumption "to preserve emergency and healthcare services and allow medical staff to focus on caring for the most vulnerable".
To help Parisians and tourists cope with the heat, authorities are keeping parks and gardens in the French capital open through the night.
Western Europe swelters
The grueling heatwave left much of Western Europe sweltering on Friday with the mercury expected to continue rising in the coming days, likely shattering yet more temperature records.
France was hit hard, forcing hundreds of schools to tweak their timetables to cope. Forecasters warned of an "intense and long-lasting" heatwave that could see temperatures in Paris soar above 40C for the first time on a June day.
Across the continent, authorities were ramping up warnings of extreme weather. German forecasters said parts of the country needed to be on alert for thunderstorms, hail and heavy rain over the weekend.
Meteorologists confirmed that England and Wales had already experienced the hottest spring ever recorded, though temperatures in Britain were not expected to be as intense as continental Europe.
Scientists say human-driven climate change is amplifying such extremes, with heatwaves, droughts and floods becoming more intense and frequent.
The current heatwave is already the second of the year for many, and means summer is kicking off for tens of millions of Western Europeans with another spell of extreme heat.
Britain, France, Spain, Switzerland and Germany have all raised alert levels for the coming days as have some cities in northern and central Italy.
The UK's Met Office said there was a 40 percent chance of beating the record temperature for a June day, set in 1976.
Spain's civil protection agency has warned of a prolonged spell of extreme heat affecting most of the country and the Balearic Islands from Sunday and through much of next week.
Schaffhouse, a town in northern Switzerland, on Friday recorded its hottest June temperature ever at 35.7C, and the mercury is expected to rise across the country in the coming days, putting other records at risk.
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With climate change, "we're seeing more extremes of temperatures, we're breaking records more frequently", Alex Deakin from the Met Office told AFP.
"When you get hot spells, they're that much hotter. And when you get rainy spells, they're that much rainier," he said.
'Trying to cope'
France is at the heart of the current upsurge, with the country having just experienced its hottest spring since records began in 1900.
In the baking streets of Paris, locals shared some tips on how to beat the heat.
Patricia Pierrot said she had stopped taking the bus entirely, calling it "too stifling".
"It's really unpleasant," said the retiree. "I think the metro might be a little bit better."
"We're trying to cope, like everyone else," said estate agent David Blanchet.
"It's important to stay hydrated and not eat too much. So we focus on foods with high water content, like fruit, and on limiting calorie intake."
But in a village nestled in hills south of Paris, Jean-Luc Eclercy Deterpigny is reaping the benefits of a decision he took during the Covid-19 pandemic to quit the city and go to live in a cave dwelling.
He told AFP the caves in the village of Troo offer stable temperature all year round thanks to the mass of rock surrounding them.
"Living in a cave dwelling in the context of climate change is honestly an incredible stroke of luck," said Eclercy Deterpigny, who now serves as head of the local tourism association.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
