PARIS/MADRID/LONDON - Thirteen drowned in France on Sunday and overnight into Monday as people sought relief from the heat, a spokesperson for the Civil Safety service said, and three elderly people died as a result of the extreme temperatures in the country.

The deaths came as thousands of schools in France closed or modified timetables and European authorities issued heatwave warnings, with forecasters in Britain predicting temperatures could smash records for June this week.

Temperatures in Bordeaux in southwestern France were forecast to exceed 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday and weather agency Meteo France said 49 regional administrative areas would be under a red heatwave warning.

"We're heading for, at the very least, several days of very, very hot weather. We don't know when temperatures will start falling," French Health Minister Stephanie Rist said on TV channel TF1.

French Civil Safety service spokesperson Jerome Boulanger told broadcaster RMC people should swim only where safe to do so.

An April report by the World Meteorological Organization found Europe is warming at more than double the global rate. According to the Reuters Climate Monitor, Europe on Monday was the continent furthest from its historic norm, with temperatures forecast to reach an average 24C, 4.1C above what was typical from 1961-1990.

UK HEAT WILL BREAK JUNE RECORD SET IN 1976

The Met Office, Britain's national weather forecaster, said on Monday that a four-day heatwave there could push temperatures above 39C in some places, easily breaking the June record of 35.6C set in 1957 and 1976.

"I think UK heat is something different to the rest of the world. So 36 degrees is going to be disgusting," said data scientist Lewis Jennings, out walking in central London.

In Spain, state weather agency Aemet issued a red alert for the Basque region, in the normally cooler north of the country, with the mercury in San Sebastian set to rise to a high of 40C, more than double the city's historic average for June 22, according to the Reuters Climate Monitor.

San Sebastian was set to be hotter than the southern cities of Seville and Cordoba, which normally record the country's most intense summer heat.

"We are seeing temperatures between 5 and 10 degrees above normal for this time of year, and in some northern areas even more than 10 degrees above average," said Rubén del Campo, spokesperson for Aemet.

RED HEATWAVE ALERTS ACROSS ITALY

Meanwhile, Italy on Monday issued heatwave red alerts for 12 cities, including Milan, Turin, Venice, Bologna, Florence and Rome.

The Red Cross in Milan said it was inviting elderly people and those with health conditions to visit their cooling centre, where solar panels power air conditioning.

Local utility Iren was doubling workers' shifts and adding generators to address sporadic power cuts in Turin as the electricity grid came under strain, a spokesperson said.

Wildlife shelters in northern Europe were struggling to cope with the number of animals being brought in. Birds such as swifts, swallows, sparrows and starlings, which make their nests in the eaves of roofs, have been particularly affected by abnormally high temperatures, said Romaine de Jaegere, a biologist and founder of the Centre for the Rehabilitation of Animals Living in the Wild (Creaves) refuge in Temploux in Belgium.

"Temperatures on the roofs can sometimes reach 50, even 60 degrees Celsius. So they prefer to jump rather than let themselves die and literally cook in their nests," De Jaegere said, adding that the shelter had received 150 animals in the last three days.

(Reporting by Lewis Macdonald and Makini Brice in Paris, Hugo Lhomedet in Gdansk, Emma Pinedo in Madrid, Zoran Mikletic in Brussels, Sarah Young in London, Francesca Landini and Giancarlo Navach in Milan, and Alvise Armellini in RomeWriting by Charlie Devereux Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Milla Nissi-Prussak)

A man stands in front of a cooler spraying water ahead of Thom Browne’s Spring/Summer 2027 men’s collection show as part of Milan Fashion Week, in Milan, Italy, June 22, 2026. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo Alessandro Garofalo Reuters

A person wearing a hat and holding a hand fan walks on the Pont des Arts bridge over the River Seine in Paris as temperatures rise during a heatwave affecting a large part of France, June 22, 2026. REUTERS/Alice Sacco Alice Sacco Reuters

People sunbathe on the banks of the River Seine in Paris as temperatures rise during a heatwave affecting a large part of France, June 22, 2026. REUTERS/Alice Sacco Alice Sacco Reuters

Two persons cool off at a water mister on a street in Paris as temperatures rise during a heatwave affecting a large part of France, June 22, 2026. REUTERS/Alice Sacco Alice Sacco Reuters

A woman uses a fan, as commuters wait to board a metro on a hot day in Madrid, Spain June 21, 2026. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem Mohammed Salem Reuters

Joana cools her dog Oli in a fountain as temperatures rise, during a heatwave affecting a large part of Spain, in Barcelona, Spain, June 21, 2026. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Nacho Doce Reuters

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published June 22, 2026 at 8:28 AM.

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