{"id":605332,"date":"2026-05-26T19:37:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T19:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/605332\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T19:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T19:37:09","slug":"europe-sizzles-under-record-may-heatwave-7-die-in-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/605332\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe sizzles under record May heatwave; 7 die in France"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Europe Western Europe reeled under an unseasonal heatwave on Tuesday as record-breaking temperatures swept across the continent.A \u201cheat dome\u201d carrying warm air from northern Africa and trapped under a high-pressure system over western Europe pushed temperatures far above normal May averages, according to weather agencies. In France, at least seven people died directly or indirectly due to the extreme weather, while authorities across several countries issued warnings and restrictions, Reuters reported. France\u2019s weather service said Monday was the hottest May day recorded in the country since measurements began, while Britain also registered its warmest May day on record. Temperatures in parts of France are expected to reach up to 36 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, with the heat likely to continue through Wednesday and Thursday.French junior energy minister Maud Bregeon said the seven people who died due to the heatwave included five who drowned in lakes, rivers and beaches as people sought relief from the soaring temperatures. Authorities also directed local administrations to implement protective measures during sporting events.In Paris, temperatures around 33C left spectators and players battling difficult conditions at Roland Garros. French authorities said a man died during a 10-km race in Paris on Sunday, while 10 others were hospitalised in critical condition after another race near the capital.Most of Brittany remained under an orange-level heat warning on Tuesday.\u201cIt\u2019s a bit worrying because it\u2019s not really normal at this time of year, but unfortunately I think this is going to become the norm in France,\u201d student Chloe Voisin told AFP in Bordeaux.In Britain, the Met Office recorded a high of 34.8C at Kew Gardens in southwest London on Monday, two degrees above the previous May record. Meteorologist Greg Dewhurst described the temperatures as \u201ca good indication of climate change in action\u201d and said such conditions were increasingly likely to become \u201cthe new norm\u201d.\u201cThis heat would be exceptional in the UK even in mid-summer, let alone May,\u201d the Met Office posted on X. In London, temperatures at this time of year normally average around 17C or 18C.Tourists and residents struggled to cope with the conditions. \u201cIf you’re not concerned about global warming, you must be deaf, blind altogether, right?\u201d Swiss tourist Philippe Bignens told AFP in London.Spain\u2019s meteorological agency Aemet warned of \u201cextraordinarily high temperatures for this time of year\u201d, forecasting highs between 36C and 38C later this week along with \u201cwidespread tropical nights\u201d.In Italy, Lazio authorities imposed restrictions on outdoor work between 12.30 pm and 4 pm in sectors including farming, construction and logistics.Scientists said human-driven climate change was intensifying heatwaves, droughts and floods, making such extreme weather events more frequent and severe across Europe, AFP reported.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Western Europe reeled under an unseasonal heatwave on Tuesday as record-breaking temperatures swept across the continent.A \u201cheat dome\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":605333,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[556,206382,22095,206385,1397,206388,206386,206383,206387,90,56,206389,206384,54,55],"class_list":["post-605332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-climate-change","tag-climate-change-heatwave","tag-climate-change-impact","tag-droughts-and-floods-europe","tag-environment","tag-europe-heatwave","tag-france-heatwave-may-2023","tag-record-temperatures-france-2023","tag-record-temperatures-may-2023","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-uk-temperatures-record","tag-uk-weather-records-may-2023","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/605333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}