Heat wave shutters Paris’ Eiffel Tower as Europe bakes

Barcelona recorded its hottest June in more than a century, the summit of Paris’ iconic Eiffel Tower was closed to visitors and hundreds of French schools closed on Tuesday as Europe sizzled in its first major heat wave of the summer.

Health warnings remained in effect in several European countries. The worst heat was felt in southern Europe, while punishing temperatures were forecast to reach 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) in Paris and to remain unusually high in Belgium and the Netherlands. 

The abnormally hot weather “is exposing millions of Europeans to high heat stress” with temperatures in June more typical of July and August, said Samantha Burgess of the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. This June is likely to be among the five hottest on record, it said.

Barcelona’s Fabra Observatory reported an average temperature for last month of 78.8 F (26 C), breaking records since records were started in 1914. The previous hottest average for June was 78.08 F (25.6 C), set in 2003.

The same weather station said a single-day high of 100 F (37.8 C) for June was recorded Monday.

Barcelona is usually spared the worst heat in Spain, thanks to its location between hills and the Mediterranean in Spain’s northeastern corner. But most of the country has been gripped by the extreme heat.

“We are seeing these temperatures because we are experiencing a very intense heat wave that has come early in the summer and that is clearly linked to global warming,” Ramón Pascual, a delegate for Spain’s weather service in Barcelona, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Pascual added that the inhabitants of the Mediterranean region are not being helped by the rising sea temperatures, which greatly reduce any cooling effects of a nearby body of water. Spain’s weather service said recent surface temperatures for the Mediterranean near the Balearic Islands are between 41-42.8 degrees F (5-6 C) higher than average.

“With water surface temperatures from 26-30 C [78-86 F], it is difficult for our nights to be refreshing,” he said.

Spain’s national average for June of 74 F (23.6 C) was 33.4 F (0.8 C) hotter than the previous hottest June in 2017. It was also the first time that June was hotter than the average temperatures for both July and August.

Spain also saw a new high mark for June established on Saturday when 114 F (46 C) was recorded in the southern province of Huelva.

The streets were also scorching in Spain’s capital, with Madrid forecast to reach 102 F (39 C), as people tried to keep cool by drinking refrigerated drinks and sticking to the shade. But the hot nights offered little relief.

“Today is very bad, but yesterday wasn’t any better. So we’re just surviving,” said Miguel Sopera, 63. “At night it’s impossible due to the terrible heat.”

France sizzles as Eiffel Tower closes

In France, the national weather agency Météo-France placed several departments under the highest red alert, with the Paris region particularly hard hit. More than 1,300 schools in the country were partially or fully closed.

Visitors to the Eiffel Tower without tickets were told to postpone their visits as the summit of the city’s landmark was closed until Thursday. The operators said the closure was “to ensure everyone’s comfort and safety.”

It’s rare for the Eiffel Tower — open 365 days a year and one of the biggest tourist attractions in the world — to close. The tower briefly closed in February 2024 for six days due to a strike. It also closed for about three months in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, its longest closure since World War II.

United Kingdom not immune

In England, the Met Office said June’s mean temperature of 62.4 F (16.9 C) set a new record for that month, while the U.K. as a whole saw its second warmest June since records began in 1884.

According to the Met Office, the Wimbledon tennis tournament on Monday recorded its hottest opening day ever at 91.2 F (32.9 C).

Italy contends with heat, torrential rain

Farther south, 17 of Italy’s 27 major cities were experiencing a heat wave, according to the health ministry.

There were torrential rains in Italy’s north on Monday, and parts of Bardonecchia near Turin were covered in sludge after the Frejus river burst its banks.

Near Bologna, one of the cities under a heat alert on Tuesday, the 46-year-old owner of a construction company collapsed and died while repaving a school parking lot, state-run RAI reported. An autopsy was being conducted to determine the cause, but heat was suspected.

How other parts of Europe are faring

In the Dutch town of Soest, first responders said they were bringing a firehose to an early evening water gun fight.

“Bring your water pistol and swimming clothes with you, because you’re guaranteed to get soaked!” the firefighters said in an Instagram post.

The Portuguese weather service issued a statement Monday night confirming the highest single temperature ever recorded in mainland Portugal for the month of June at 115 F (46.6 C) on June 29 in the town of Mora, west of Lisbon. The prior record was 112 F (44.9 C) in 2017.

Firefighters across Turkey tried to contain wildfires that have forced the evacuation of some 50,000 residents for the third consecutive day.

Temperatures were expected to reach 98.6 F (37 C) by Wednesday in large parts of the Czech Republic, including the capital.

The Prague zoo distributed up to approximately 22,046 pounds, or 10 metric tons, of ice daily across the park, with special attention given to polar bears native to the Arctic. 

Zoo director Miroslav Bobek said twin brother bears Aleut and Gregor looked pleased when they found parts of their open-air enclosure covered with a thick layer of ice Tuesday morning. They rolled on their backs and discovered frozen pieces of squid.