France breaks heat record for second consecutive day as European heatwave spreads
France broke its all-time heat record for the second day in a row on Wednesday, with the national thermal indicator reaching 30°C, as a blistering hot air mass from Africa enveloped Western Europe and triggered red alerts from Spain to the United Kingdom.
Record shattered twice in a week
On Wednesday 24 June, France registered the hottest day since measurements began in 1947, surpassing the record set only the day before. The national thermal indicator, an average of daytime and nighttime readings from 30 reference stations, climbed to 30.0°C, up from 29.9°C on Tuesday, according to provisional data from Météo-France released at 17:00.
In Paris, the temperature reached 40.3°C, the fourth time the capital has exceeded 40°C in 150 years of records and the first occurrence this year. The day's maximum, 43.8°C, was recorded in the communes of Palluau in the Vendée and Pissos in the southwest.
Heatwave engulfs much of the continent
The heatwave, which began on 17 June, has spread far beyond France. On Wednesday, at least 94 million inhabitants across Western Europe faced temperatures above 35°C. Forecasts from the German weather service and 2025 population projections by the Joint Research Centre indicate that more than 350 million Europeans (excluding Turkey), nearly two-thirds of the continent's population, are expected to endure maxima above 30°C.
The United Kingdom issued a red extreme-heat alert for several regions until Thursday evening, only the second such warning since the system was created in 2021. At Gosport, on England's southern coast, the temperature hit 36.1°C, breaking the previous June record of 35.6°C set in 1976. In Spain, almost the entire country was placed on heat alert on Tuesday, with parts of Andalusia, the Basque Country and other regions among the worst affected.
Persistent heat and fire risks
Météo-France warns that the heatwave will persist through the weekend across large parts of the country. Despite the onset of a cooling trend from the Atlantic, the cooler air will struggle to push eastward.
Despite the start of a cooling from the west, this cooler air will struggle to reach the whole country and heatwave conditions will persist across much of the territory this weekend, with maximums around 40°C to 42°C.
- Heatwave begins in France, with temperatures rising steadily.
- National thermal indicator reaches 29.9°C, an all-time record at that point.
- New record of 30.0°C set; Paris hits 40.3°C; UK records 36.1°C in Gosport.
- Two departments, Haute-Garonne and Deux-Sèvres, placed under red-level forest-fire danger for the first time this season.
- Forecast: heatwave conditions persist across much of France, with maxima around 40–42°C.
For the first time this season, two departments – Haute-Garonne and Deux-Sèvres – were placed under the highest red-level forest-fire danger on Thursday, 25 June. More than thirty departments were already at high danger, and that number is expected to rise further.
Strains on people and infrastructure
The heat is exacting a toll on health systems and critical infrastructure. France's national health agency reported an unprecedented peak in emergency-care visits early in the week, affecting all age groups, with a notable surge among people aged 15 to 44.
In Brittany, around 68,000 households lost power on Wednesday due to a transformer incident. Further south, a reactor at the Golfech nuclear power station had to be shut down because the Garonne River, whose water is used for cooling, became excessively warm.
Museums as cooling refuges
Cultural institutions are adapting. The National Museum of the History of Immigration in Paris offered free admission to its exhibitions, joining a handful of sites that have turned into much-needed cool havens. Elsewhere, some museums were forced to close, unable to maintain safe indoor conditions during the extreme heat.
