Schools Are Closed, Outdoor Events Cancelled As Europe Faces Toughest Summer In Recent Times

Thousands of schools were closed, outdoor events canceled and volunteers were visiting the elderly at home as France and other European nations battled a recordsetting heat wave baking much of Europe. Several people have died around the continent in incidents that authorities are linking to the weather.

A massive wildfire spanning 10,000 acres raged in Spain, sparked when a pile of chicken dung spontaneously combusted in the heat.

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Several countries have reported record temperatures this week, and France hit its all-time heat record on Friday: 45.9¡ãC (114.6 F) in the small southern town of Gallargues-le-Montueux, according to French media.

The French national weather service activated its highest-level heat danger alert for the first time, putting four regions around Marseille and Montpellier in the south of the country under special watch Friday. About 4,000 schools were closed because they couldn¡¯t ensure safe conditions.

Authorities canceled several cultural and sport events and many end-of-school-year carnivals. City halls were also sending volunteers to visit the elderly at home to ensure they had fans and water.

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In the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, the Salvation Army day center, which allows migrants living in the streets to take showers, also provided them with lots of bottled water.

¡°This heatwave is exceptional by its intensity and its earliness,¡± French PM Edouard Philippe told reporters. ¡°Measures have been taken for the most vulnerable people,'¡± he said. ¡°But given the intensity, it¡¯s the entire population who must be careful today ... both for oneself and for loved ones and neighbors.¡±

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Italy put 16 cities under alerts for high temperatures, and civil security services distributed water to tourists visiting famed sites around Rome under a scorching sun.

The heat killed at least three people as temperatures soared in central and northern Italy, while hospitals in the financial capital Milan saw a 35% rise in emergency visits due to heat-related conditions. Demand for power in the city surged as people cranked up air conditioning causing sporadic blackouts in stores and restaurants. Temperatures are forecast to ease in the coming days but will remain hot.

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Heat was also blamed for the deaths of two people in Spain, private news agency Europa Press reported on Friday. An 80-year-old man collapsed and died in the street in Valladolid, in northwest Spain, the agency said, and a 17-year-old boy died in the southern city of Cordoba after diving into a swimming pool and losing consciousness.

Four people have drowned in France this week, and a 12-year-old girl drowned in a river near Manchester, England. France¡¯s health minister and British police warned people to swim only in authorised areas.

France has also seen an uptick in so-called street-pooling, or illegally opening fire hydrants. A 6-year-old child is in life-threatening condition after being hit by water shooting from a cracked-open fire hydrant in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, broadcaster France-Info reported.

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More than 200 firefighters dealt with dozens of fires in the Gard region, in southeastern France, and a highway was closed for safety reasons.

More than 600 firefighters and six water-dropping aircraft were battling the worst fire in two decades in Catalonia on Friday, as Spain is forecast to endure the peak of its heat wave, with temperatures expected to exceed 40¡ãC (104¡ãF).

In Berlin, a police unit turned water cannons ¡ª usually used against rioters ¡ª on city trees, to cool them down.

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The World Meteorological Organisation said on Friday that temperature records for this time of year have been broken in Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland and Austria. It had said this week that 2019 was on track to be among the world¡¯s hottest years, and 2015-2019 would then be the hottest five-year period ever. It said the heatwave was ¡°absolutely consistent¡± with extremes linked to the impact of greenhouse gas emissions.