UK June heat record broken again, France postpones Pride and Poland warns of wildfires as heatwave grips Europe – live
✓The Met Office has just confirmed that a new provisional record for the hottest June day has been set once again, with 36.9C recorded at Wattisham, Suffolk.
“And temperatures are still rising,” it added.
Remember how unusual it this: this is the third time this week when we have a new record.
Also, awkwardly, Wattisham is not even in the area covered by the red extreme heat alert…
Key events34m agoGreat Britain’s grid operator warns again over power supplies in heatwave1h agoBalkans get ready for record-high temperatures this weekend1h agoUK breaks hottest June day record for third day in a row2h agoPoland braces for record-breaking heatwave, warns against wildfires2h agoResidents near Europe's largest datacentre park complain of unbearable heat3h agoBelgium cancels reenactment of Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo due to extreme heat4h agoGenoa becomes 18th Italian city covered by red heatwave alert as courts, cultural institutions restrict entry due to heat4h agoHeatwave expected to bring Germany and Poland to 40C this weekend5h agoDerbyshire firefighters continue to respond to large wildfire in Derbyshire5h agoParis Pride March postponed over extreme temperature warnings6h ago150 million Europeans to experience temperatures above 35C today6h agoParis police ask organisers of Pride march, Solidays music festival to cancel events6h agoExtreme heat emerging as 'structural economic risk' for Europe, experts say7h ago55 people drowned in France since the start of the heatwave, minister says7h agoHuman-made climate change 'unequivocally' responsible for heatwave, scientists say8h agoWelcome
Key events
34m ago
Great Britain’s grid operator warns again over power supplies in heatwave
1h ago
Balkans get ready for record-high temperatures this weekend
1h ago
UK breaks hottest June day record for third day in a row
2h ago
Poland braces for record-breaking heatwave, warns against wildfires
2h ago
Residents near Europe's largest datacentre park complain of unbearable heat
3h ago
Belgium cancels reenactment of Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo due to extreme heat
4h ago
Genoa becomes 18th Italian city covered by red heatwave alert as courts, cultural institutions restrict entry due to heat
4h ago
Heatwave expected to bring Germany and Poland to 40C this weekend
5h ago
Derbyshire firefighters continue to respond to large wildfire in Derbyshire
5h ago
Paris Pride March postponed over extreme temperature warnings
6h ago
150 million Europeans to experience temperatures above 35C today
6h ago
Paris police ask organisers of Pride march, Solidays music festival to cancel events
6h ago
Extreme heat emerging as 'structural economic risk' for Europe, experts say
7h ago
55 people drowned in France since the start of the heatwave, minister says
7h ago
Human-made climate change 'unequivocally' responsible for heatwave, scientists say
8h ago
Welcome
Jillian Ambrose
Energy correspondent
Great Britain’s energy system operator has raised the alarm over electricity supplies for the second time this week as the heatwave continues to disrupt Europe’s energy markets.
The National Energy System Operator (Neso) issued a notice late on Thursday asking generators to provide any extra electricity possible on Friday evening to help meet rising demand as households turn on air conditioners and electric fans to cope with the heat.
The operator said it was calling for extra power supplies because its forecasts showed “tight margins on the electricity system” for Friday evening due to “the impact of extremely high temperatures affecting Great Britain and the continent”.
The government-owned body added that the electricity supply was not at risk, indicating that a blackout was not imminent.
The market warning was the second this week after Neso called for backup on Tuesday night before a rise in demand on Wednesday evening when the high pressure heat dome that has led to Europe’s worst heatwave ever was forecast to slow wind speeds in a blow to renewable energy supplies.
The operator was forced to pay sums well above the usual market price to generators that were able to ramp up their electricity output, which will ultimately be paid for through household energy bills.
A heatwave moving from western Europe is set to bring very high temperatures to the Balkans from Friday, triggering weather warnings across the region for the days ahead, AFP reported.
Temperatures of up to 39 degrees are expected in some parts of Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro, prompting health warnings, especially for vulnerable groups.
In Serbia, where the past three summers have been the hottest since records began in 1951, more than one in five workers works outdoors, according to specialist website Klima 101.
Most of the Balkans’ Adriatic coast is under “red” warnings, with temperatures forecast to top 35 degrees.
Repeated heatwaves are an unequivocal marker of climate change, caused mainly by humans burning fossil fuels, climatologists have shown, AFP noted. Such heatwaves are expected to become more frequent, longer and more intense.
And UK health chiefs are warning of the impact the heatwave is having on services as they face significantly more life-threatening emergency calls with record-breaking temperatures continuing to scorch the country, PA news agency said.
Several hospitals have declared critical incidents, with University Hospital Southampton being forced to cancel a number of planned operations and some outpatient appointments, PA reported.
Schools and nurseries have also been forced to closed and a hosepipe ban has been brought in for Kent amid surging demand.
The Met Office has just confirmed that a new provisional record for the hottest June day has been set once again, with 36.9C recorded at Wattisham, Suffolk.
“And temperatures are still rising,” it added.
Remember how unusual it this: this is the third time this week when we have a new record.
Also, awkwardly, Wattisham is not even in the area covered by the red extreme heat alert…
Heat combined with record-low May rainfall have significantly increased the risk of fires in forests and national parks in Poland, officials warned, as the country braces for record-high temperatures this weekend.
Temperatures could locally reach even 41C in western Poland, forecasts show, with up to 39C in the capital, Warsaw. Several cities installed special water curtains to help pedestrians cool themselves during the hottest hours of the day.
A spokesperson for Poland’s long-distance rail operator, PKP Intercity, told AFP the heatwave was expected to affect traffic, with overhead power lines sagging and rails deforming.
Following the example of Germany’s Deutsche Bahn, Intercity said its passengers could cancel this weekend’s journeys for a full refund.
Aisha Down
The community living next to the largest datacentre park in Europe say the scorching summer heat has grown unbearable.
On days like Wednesday, said Nabeel Nawaz, the store manager of a Chaiiwala franchise in the centre of Slough, England, the heat is like something “pinching your body and burning your skin”.
What is harder to establish is whether this heat is just the result of the climate emergency, and the growing industrial sprawl across London, or whether the dozens of energy-hungry datacentres that have sprung up are also contributing to the problem.
Ten miles (16km) west of Heathrow, Slough has become one of the largest datacentre hubs in the world, hosting an estimated 30 to 40 huge facilities, many of them on a campus in the centre of town. These – owned and maintained by companies like Equinix and Digital Realty – serve dozens of clients, including the world’s biggest tech companies: Amazon, Google, Oracle and Microsoft.
More are still to be built in a planned development on the edge of the same campus.
Emerging research – including a preprint of a paper led by researchers at Cambridge earlier this year – suggests datacentres create a heat island effect, pushing up temperatures in their immediate vicinity by an average of 2C, and as much as 9C.
Read Aisha’s full piece here:
Health chiefs in the UK are warning of the impact the heatwave is having on services as they face significantly more life-threatening emergency calls with record-breaking temperatures continuing to scorch the country.
Several hospitals have declared critical incidents, with University Hospital Southampton being forced to cancel a number of planned operations and some outpatient appointments.
The London Ambulance Service (LAS) responded to its highest number of life-threatening emergencies ever on Wednesday, and its chief operating officer Craig Harman said he expects “demand to grow day on day over the next couple of days”.
As football fans prepare to cheer on England in Saturday’s World Cup game, Harman has told people to drink alcohol responsibly, drinking “plenty of water” in between alcoholic beverages.
He told the Press Association it is not just the elderly and people with underlying health conditions affected by the heat, adding: “I’m saying to people I need you to drink water even when you’re not thirsty, staying out of the sun during the hottest parts of the day, and particularly not exercising outside and putting your body under additional heat and strain.”
In the UK leading security, military and academic experts are set to join a newly launched government taskforce aimed at addressing growing threats to the country posed by climate change, PA reports.
The group will advise the government on how to better anticipate and respond to these risks, as global warming and nature loss are increasingly recognised as core drivers of geopolitical instability and economic disruption.
Co-chaired by climate minister Katie White and security minister Dame Angela Eagle, officials said the taskforce will meet to pinpoint gaps in the UK’s preparedness.
The experts will also aim to identify the most serious climate and nature threats to national security, review existing resilience work across government and set out clear recommendations to strengthen readiness, they said.
Meanwhile in Belgium, the authorities have cancelled this weekend’s reenactment of Napoleon’s defeat at the battle of Waterloo as the country swelters under a heatwave, AFP reported.
The annual event sees hundreds of enthusiasts dressed up in Napoleonic-era costumes recreate the battle from 1815 before history-loving crowds.
“Waterloo 2026 reenactments cancelled: safety first,” the organisers announced.
“The safety of the public, participants, volunteers, emergency service workers cannot be comprised.”
Temperatures in Belgium are nearing record highs for June, as part of a broader heatwave choking swathes of Europe.
Near Italy’s Po River estuary, clam fishers toiled picking their nets free of algae spawned by the heat, AFP reported.
“On top of all our problems, now there’s this crazy heat, so long, so unexpected,” said Paolo Mancin, head of a fishers’ cooperative, standing in the 31C water.
“Algae form and the clams are dying in large numbers.”
Over in Italy, Genoa has become the 18th Italian city covered the red extreme health alert, ANSA news agency reported.
It joins 17 cities that already were on red alert, including some of major tourist attractions of Bologna, Florence, Rome, Turin and Verona.
Palermo’s courthouse suspended hearings until 29 June, while Florence’s Uffizi Gallery said it has extended a suspension of ticket sales imposed earlier this week, with only people with previous bookings allowed to enter, ANSA said.
“Due to the exceptional heatwave currently affecting the country (and Florence in particular) access to the Uffizi Gallery will be restricted to those with a pre-booked ticket only until and including Sunday 28 June. We apologise for any inconvenience caused,” Uffizi said in a statement.
James Michelin for MetDesk
Temperatures are forecast to rise dramatically in parts of central and northern Europe this weekend as the intense heatwave continues.
In Germany and Poland, highs up to or exceeding 40C are expected on both Saturday and Sunday, days after swathes of France experienced similar extreme temperatures.
The Austrian Grand Prix, taking place this weekend in Spielberg, has declared a heat hazard, the first race to do so this season. Temperatures are expected to rise into the low 30s celsius during the race, almost 10C warmer than usual for the venue.
Read the full story at BBC ↗ · BBC ↗ · The Guardian ↗ · Axios ↗ · The Guardian ↗ · The Guardian ↗
A sustained heatwave is moving across Europe with record temperatures in the UK, France, Germany, Poland and the Balkans. The UK Met Office confirmed 36.9°C at Wattisham, Suffolk — marking the third new June temperature record this week. Across the continent, temperatures are exceeding 35°C for 150 million people, with forecasts showing 40°C+ in parts of Germany and Poland this weekend. The heat is creating widespread infrastructure strain: Britain's energy operator has twice requested emergency power supplies; rail operators in Poland are allowing ticket cancellations due to track deformation; hospitals in the UK have declared critical incidents and cancelled routine operations. Public events including Paris Pride and Belgium's Waterloo reenactment have been postponed. Italy has 18 cities under red heat alert. Poland has warned of increased wildfire risk due to record temperatures and low May rainfall. Scientists attribute the heatwave to human-caused climate change and note such events are expected to increase in frequency and intensity.
Read the full story at BBC ↗ · BBC ↗ · The Guardian ↗ · Axios ↗ · The Guardian ↗ · The Guardian ↗
The Met Office has just confirmed that a new provisional record for the hottest June day has been set once again, with 36.9C recorded at Wattisham, Suffolk.
“And temperatures are still rising,” it added.
Remember how unusual it this: this is the third time this week when we have a new record.
Also, awkwardly, Wattisham is not even in the area covered by the red extreme heat alert…
Key events34m agoGreat Britain’s grid operator warns again over power supplies in heatwave1h agoBalkans get ready for record-high temperatures this weekend1h agoUK breaks hottest June day record for third day in a row2h agoPoland braces for record-breaking heatwave, warns against wildfires2h agoResidents near Europe's largest datacentre park complain of unbearable heat3h agoBelgium cancels reenactment of Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo due to extreme heat4h agoGenoa becomes 18th Italian city covered by red heatwave alert as courts, cultural institutions restrict entry due to heat4h agoHeatwave expected to bring Germany and Poland to 40C this weekend5h agoDerbyshire firefighters continue to respond to large wildfire in Derbyshire5h agoParis Pride March postponed over extreme temperature warnings6h ago150 million Europeans to experience temperatures above 35C today6h agoParis police ask organisers of Pride march, Solidays music festival to cancel events6h agoExtreme heat emerging as 'structural economic risk' for Europe, experts say7h ago55 people drowned in France since the start of the heatwave, minister says7h agoHuman-made climate change 'unequivocally' responsible for heatwave, scientists say8h agoWelcome
Key events
34m ago
Great Britain’s grid operator warns again over power supplies in heatwave
1h ago
Balkans get ready for record-high temperatures this weekend
1h ago
UK breaks hottest June day record for third day in a row
2h ago
Poland braces for record-breaking heatwave, warns against wildfires
2h ago
Residents near Europe's largest datacentre park complain of unbearable heat
3h ago
Belgium cancels reenactment of Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo due to extreme heat
4h ago
Genoa becomes 18th Italian city covered by red heatwave alert as courts, cultural institutions restrict entry due to heat
4h ago
Heatwave expected to bring Germany and Poland to 40C this weekend
5h ago
Derbyshire firefighters continue to respond to large wildfire in Derbyshire
5h ago
Paris Pride March postponed over extreme temperature warnings
6h ago
150 million Europeans to experience temperatures above 35C today
6h ago
Paris police ask organisers of Pride march, Solidays music festival to cancel events
6h ago
Extreme heat emerging as 'structural economic risk' for Europe, experts say
7h ago
55 people drowned in France since the start of the heatwave, minister says
7h ago
Human-made climate change 'unequivocally' responsible for heatwave, scientists say
8h ago
Welcome
Jillian Ambrose
Energy correspondent
Great Britain’s energy system operator has raised the alarm over electricity supplies for the second time this week as the heatwave continues to disrupt Europe’s energy markets.
The National Energy System Operator (Neso) issued a notice late on Thursday asking generators to provide any extra electricity possible on Friday evening to help meet rising demand as households turn on air conditioners and electric fans to cope with the heat.
The operator said it was calling for extra power supplies because its forecasts showed “tight margins on the electricity system” for Friday evening due to “the impact of extremely high temperatures affecting Great Britain and the continent”.
The government-owned body added that the electricity supply was not at risk, indicating that a blackout was not imminent.
The market warning was the second this week after Neso called for backup on Tuesday night before a rise in demand on Wednesday evening when the high pressure heat dome that has led to Europe’s worst heatwave ever was forecast to slow wind speeds in a blow to renewable energy supplies.
The operator was forced to pay sums well above the usual market price to generators that were able to ramp up their electricity output, which will ultimately be paid for through household energy bills.
A heatwave moving from western Europe is set to bring very high temperatures to the Balkans from Friday, triggering weather warnings across the region for the days ahead, AFP reported.
Temperatures of up to 39 degrees are expected in some parts of Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro, prompting health warnings, especially for vulnerable groups.
In Serbia, where the past three summers have been the hottest since records began in 1951, more than one in five workers works outdoors, according to specialist website Klima 101.
Most of the Balkans’ Adriatic coast is under “red” warnings, with temperatures forecast to top 35 degrees.
Repeated heatwaves are an unequivocal marker of climate change, caused mainly by humans burning fossil fuels, climatologists have shown, AFP noted. Such heatwaves are expected to become more frequent, longer and more intense.
And UK health chiefs are warning of the impact the heatwave is having on services as they face significantly more life-threatening emergency calls with record-breaking temperatures continuing to scorch the country, PA news agency said.
Several hospitals have declared critical incidents, with University Hospital Southampton being forced to cancel a number of planned operations and some outpatient appointments, PA reported.
Schools and nurseries have also been forced to closed and a hosepipe ban has been brought in for Kent amid surging demand.
The Met Office has just confirmed that a new provisional record for the hottest June day has been set once again, with 36.9C recorded at Wattisham, Suffolk.
“And temperatures are still rising,” it added.
Remember how unusual it this: this is the third time this week when we have a new record.
Also, awkwardly, Wattisham is not even in the area covered by the red extreme heat alert…
Heat combined with record-low May rainfall have significantly increased the risk of fires in forests and national parks in Poland, officials warned, as the country braces for record-high temperatures this weekend.
Temperatures could locally reach even 41C in western Poland, forecasts show, with up to 39C in the capital, Warsaw. Several cities installed special water curtains to help pedestrians cool themselves during the hottest hours of the day.
A spokesperson for Poland’s long-distance rail operator, PKP Intercity, told AFP the heatwave was expected to affect traffic, with overhead power lines sagging and rails deforming.
Following the example of Germany’s Deutsche Bahn, Intercity said its passengers could cancel this weekend’s journeys for a full refund.
Aisha Down
The community living next to the largest datacentre park in Europe say the scorching summer heat has grown unbearable.
On days like Wednesday, said Nabeel Nawaz, the store manager of a Chaiiwala franchise in the centre of Slough, England, the heat is like something “pinching your body and burning your skin”.
What is harder to establish is whether this heat is just the result of the climate emergency, and the growing industrial sprawl across London, or whether the dozens of energy-hungry datacentres that have sprung up are also contributing to the problem.
Ten miles (16km) west of Heathrow, Slough has become one of the largest datacentre hubs in the world, hosting an estimated 30 to 40 huge facilities, many of them on a campus in the centre of town. These – owned and maintained by companies like Equinix and Digital Realty – serve dozens of clients, including the world’s biggest tech companies: Amazon, Google, Oracle and Microsoft.
More are still to be built in a planned development on the edge of the same campus.
Emerging research – including a preprint of a paper led by researchers at Cambridge earlier this year – suggests datacentres create a heat island effect, pushing up temperatures in their immediate vicinity by an average of 2C, and as much as 9C.
Read Aisha’s full piece here:
Health chiefs in the UK are warning of the impact the heatwave is having on services as they face significantly more life-threatening emergency calls with record-breaking temperatures continuing to scorch the country.
Several hospitals have declared critical incidents, with University Hospital Southampton being forced to cancel a number of planned operations and some outpatient appointments.
The London Ambulance Service (LAS) responded to its highest number of life-threatening emergencies ever on Wednesday, and its chief operating officer Craig Harman said he expects “demand to grow day on day over the next couple of days”.
As football fans prepare to cheer on England in Saturday’s World Cup game, Harman has told people to drink alcohol responsibly, drinking “plenty of water” in between alcoholic beverages.
He told the Press Association it is not just the elderly and people with underlying health conditions affected by the heat, adding: “I’m saying to people I need you to drink water even when you’re not thirsty, staying out of the sun during the hottest parts of the day, and particularly not exercising outside and putting your body under additional heat and strain.”
In the UK leading security, military and academic experts are set to join a newly launched government taskforce aimed at addressing growing threats to the country posed by climate change, PA reports.
The group will advise the government on how to better anticipate and respond to these risks, as global warming and nature loss are increasingly recognised as core drivers of geopolitical instability and economic disruption.
Co-chaired by climate minister Katie White and security minister Dame Angela Eagle, officials said the taskforce will meet to pinpoint gaps in the UK’s preparedness.
The experts will also aim to identify the most serious climate and nature threats to national security, review existing resilience work across government and set out clear recommendations to strengthen readiness, they said.
Meanwhile in Belgium, the authorities have cancelled this weekend’s reenactment of Napoleon’s defeat at the battle of Waterloo as the country swelters under a heatwave, AFP reported.
The annual event sees hundreds of enthusiasts dressed up in Napoleonic-era costumes recreate the battle from 1815 before history-loving crowds.
“Waterloo 2026 reenactments cancelled: safety first,” the organisers announced.
“The safety of the public, participants, volunteers, emergency service workers cannot be comprised.”
Temperatures in Belgium are nearing record highs for June, as part of a broader heatwave choking swathes of Europe.
Near Italy’s Po River estuary, clam fishers toiled picking their nets free of algae spawned by the heat, AFP reported.
“On top of all our problems, now there’s this crazy heat, so long, so unexpected,” said Paolo Mancin, head of a fishers’ cooperative, standing in the 31C water.
“Algae form and the clams are dying in large numbers.”
Over in Italy, Genoa has become the 18th Italian city covered the red extreme health alert, ANSA news agency reported.
It joins 17 cities that already were on red alert, including some of major tourist attractions of Bologna, Florence, Rome, Turin and Verona.
Palermo’s courthouse suspended hearings until 29 June, while Florence’s Uffizi Gallery said it has extended a suspension of ticket sales imposed earlier this week, with only people with previous bookings allowed to enter, ANSA said.
“Due to the exceptional heatwave currently affecting the country (and Florence in particular) access to the Uffizi Gallery will be restricted to those with a pre-booked ticket only until and including Sunday 28 June. We apologise for any inconvenience caused,” Uffizi said in a statement.
James Michelin for MetDesk
Temperatures are forecast to rise dramatically in parts of central and northern Europe this weekend as the intense heatwave continues.
In Germany and Poland, highs up to or exceeding 40C are expected on both Saturday and Sunday, days after swathes of France experienced similar extreme temperatures.
The Austrian Grand Prix, taking place this weekend in Spielberg, has declared a heat hazard, the first race to do so this season. Temperatures are expected to rise into the low 30s celsius during the race, almost 10C warmer than usual for the venue.
Read the full story at BBC ↗ · BBC ↗ · The Guardian ↗ · Axios ↗ · The Guardian ↗ · The Guardian ↗
The Met Office confirmed a provisional record of 36.9°C recorded at Wattisham, Suffolk This is the third new June temperature record set within one week in the UK Approximately 150 million Europeans are experiencing temperatures above 35°C Temperatures of 40°C+ are forecast for parts of Germany and Poland this weekend Britain's National Energy System Operator issued emergency power supply requests on two occasions this week Several UK hospitals declared critical incidents and cancelled planned operations The London Ambulance Service responded to its highest number of life-threatening emergencies ever on Wednesday Paris Pride and Belgium's Waterloo reenactment were postponed due to heat Eighteen Italian cities are under red extreme heat alert Poland warned of heightened wildfire risk due to record temperatures and low May rainfall Human-made climate change is unequivocally responsible for the heatwave, according to scientists Such heatwaves are expected to become more frequent, longer and more intense Emerging research suggests datacentres may create a local heat island effect of 2–9°C in their vicinity This heatwave represents Europe's worst ever
Read the full story at BBC ↗ · BBC ↗ · The Guardian ↗ · Axios ↗ · The Guardian ↗ · The Guardian ↗
- UK recorded 36.9°C at Wattisham, Suffolk on June 20th — the third new June temperature record set within one week
- Extreme heat across Europe is affecting energy grids, transport infrastructure, hospitals and emergency services; 150 million Europeans experience temperatures above 35°C
- Major events cancelled (Paris Pride, Waterloo reenactment); 18 Italian cities under red heat alert; Poland warns of wildfire risk; scientists confirm human-caused climate change is driving the heatwave