Overview
- Weather services say a persistent high‑pressure “heat dome” is forcing hot, dry air from North Africa into western Europe, producing record or near‑record May temperatures in several countries.
- France has reported seven deaths linked directly or indirectly to the heat and issued wide orange warnings as Météo France recorded hundreds of monthly records this May.
- Italy’s health ministry placed Rome, Florence, Bologna and Turin on its highest red alert for Thursday and ordered measures such as opening cooled public spaces and pausing heavy outdoor work.
- Meteorological agencies report that Germany reached its local peak with roughly 34°C on Tuesday but the century‑old May record of 36.6°C is not expected to be broken; Austria logged 30°C days in all nine states and its first tropical night of the season.
- Short‑range forecasts show some cooling or increased thunderstorm risk for parts of northern and central Europe later this week, yet forecasters warn the blocking pattern could keep extreme warmth and record conditions over other regions through the end of the week.