PARIS: Much of Western Europe sweltered in a gruelling heatwave on Friday with the mercury expected to continue rising in the coming days, shattering 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.

Temperatures in Britain were not expected to be as intense as continental Europe, but meteorologists confirmed that England and Wales had experienced the hottest spring ever recorded.

Scientists say human-driven climate change is amplifying such extremes, with weather events like 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, Switzerland, Germany, Spain have all raised alert levels for the coming days.

Britain’s Met Office said there was a 40 per cent chance of beating the record temperature for a June day, set in 1976.

With climate change, “we’re seeing more extremes of temperatures, we’re breaking records more frequently”, Alex Deakin from the Met Office said.

“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.”

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2026