Heatwave in Europe disrupts train services, top of Eiffel Tower in Paris shut: Updates

About 1,350 French schools are partially or fully closed due to extreme heat conditions.

Several parts of Europe are in the grips of the first major heatwave this summer, with health warnings in effect in multiple countries. A heat dome covered France, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey, with European forecasters indicating that other countries are likely to experience even more intense heat in the upcoming days, news agency Associated Press reported.

Tourists hold umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun during a heatwave at the Trocadero square, in Paris, on June 30, 2025. (AFP)

Heat warnings were issued for parts of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, and the UK, with new highs expected on Wednesday before rain is forecast to bring respite to some areas later this week.

Here's the latest:

1. Barcelona has recorded its hottest month of June since records started over a century ago, Spain’s national weather service said on Tuesday.
2. The Fabra Observatory, located on a hill overlooking Barcelona, reported an average temperature of 26 degrees Celsius, breaking records since 1914. The previous hottest average for June was 25.6 degrees Celsius in 2003.
3. France's national weather agency, Météo-France, has placed several departments under the highest red alert, with the Paris region particularly hard hit.
4. The top of the Eiffel Tower will be shut to visitors over the next two days, as temperatures in Paris climb as high as 41 Celsius on Tuesday.
5. About 1,350 French schools are partially or fully closed due to extreme heat conditions, while more than 5,000 homes faced electricity cuts, according to Bloomberg.
6. Italy's health ministry said that 17 of its 27 major cities were experiencing a heat wave.
7. In Bologna, one of the cities under a heat alert on Tuesday, a 46-year-old owner of a construction company collapsed and died while repaving a school parking lot, AP reported, citing state-run RAI.
8. According to Bloomberg, temperatures across the Iberian peninsula could climb even higher, with 43C forecast for parts of Spain. Similar highs could be reached in Beja in Portugal, where a June record of 46.6C was recorded in Evora on Sunday. London could hit 34C, before cooling from Wednesday.