• Water-use restrictions imposed across France
• Heat, drought drive rivers to record lows
PARIS: Much of Europe is bracing for yet another heatwave following periods of scorching temperatures that have driven rivers to record lows, ignited historic forest fires and contributed to thousands of deaths, meanwhile nearly 70 per cent of France has been subjected to water-use restrictions as drought conditions worsen.
Parts of Britain and France on Monday were already under extreme heat warnings, with forecasts of temperatures around the mid-30s Celsius.
Unusually high temperatures were also forecast in the coming days across a swathe of countries not accustomed to the heat, such as Switzerland, Austria and Hungary.
Europe’s weather warning system MeteoAlarm said scorching temperatures were already being felt across much of Italy and coastal areas of Croatia.
The UK’s Met Office warned at the weekend that the summer’s fifth hot spell was about to take hold in a country whose infrastructure has been built for a more temperate, cooler climate.
“Yet another spell of extremely hot weather is set to spread north across much of the UK, with temperatures reaching the mid-30s Celsius in places,” it said on X on Sunday.
In France, the national weather agency Meteo-France warned on Monday that the southeast would see temperatures as high as 35C, with that level of heat spreading as the week progresses.
“The intense heat will affect almost the entire country between Wednesday and Friday,” it said in a bulletin.
Both France and the UK have seen thousands of excess deaths during previous heatwaves this year.
Greece reported its second fire of the season to spark near the capital Athens on Monday, dispatching hundreds of crew members and equipment.
Already, more than 10,000 hectares of pine forests were blackened by a blaze that broke out 10 days ago northwest of the capital.
Heat and drought are also driving rivers across Europe to record lows. The Rhine in Germany could drop so much that it becomes unnavigable, industry groups have warned.
“As France is experiencing a particularly severe drought, the effects of climate change continue to increase pressure on water resources,” the French Ministry for Ecological Transition said on Monday, adding that “nearly 70pc of French territory is subject to restrictions on water use”.
Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2026
