Amman, June 23 |(Petra) -- Record-breaking temperatures continued to soar across most of Europe on Tuesday, causing mounting casualties, severe disruptions to daily life, and placing numerous cities under critical red alerts.

The German Meteorological Service issued warnings of an extreme heatwave as temperatures approached 40 degrees Celsius, noting that the country's current all-time heat record could be broken this coming Friday.

According to Deutsche Welle, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced that 40 people have drowned since June 18 amid the blistering conditions, with additional heat-related fatalities reported among children and the elderly.

The crisis has also impacted France's energy and transport sectors. The Golfech nuclear power plant, located along the Garonne River in the southwest, has been shut down since Monday, while rail networks across the country face extensive delays and cancellations. Furthermore, France has placed its emergency services and military forces on high alert to combat potential wildfires, with the national weather service placing approximately one-third of the country under a red heat warning effective Sunday.

In Italy, the Ministry of Health issued a red alert for extreme heat across 15 cities, including Rome and Milan, with that number expected to rise to 16 cities by Wednesday.

The United Kingdom's Met Office maintained its rare red "extreme heat" warning for Wednesday and Thursday across parts of southern England. Forecasters indicated that the UK's current record for the highest temperature registered in June is likely to be shattered, prompting preemptive school closures.

In Spain, a maximum alert was declared across most autonomous communities on Tuesday. Authorities placed several regions including Andalusia in the south, the Basque Country in the northwest, and Cantabria in the north under top-tier warnings indicating "exceptional risk." The intense conditions extend across neighboring nations. In Portugal, meteorologists projected Tuesday to be the peak of the heatwave. Similarly, Belgium is bracing for its hottest week on record, with average temperatures expected to exceed 27 degrees Celsius, according to David Dehenauw, head of forecasting at the Royal Meteorological Institute (IRM).

In the Netherlands, local forecasts indicate that temperatures could climb to 37 degrees Celsius by the end of the week, keeping a nationwide yellow alert active due to stifling atmospheric conditions.

Meanwhile, MeteoSwiss reported that the heatwave in Switzerland is likely to persist through the end of next week, with temperatures rising steadily from Sunday toward a projected peak in the latter half of the week. A similar pattern is unfolding in Austria, where the national meteorological service expects the heatwave to last all week, pushing temperatures past 35 degrees Celsius across most of the country.

//Petra// AF