Much of France was set to experience temperatures of around 40C on Tuesday, after records were shattered on Monday
Forty people have drowned in France over the past days as they sought to cool down to escape record heat, the prime minister said on Tuesday, as a heatwave swept across much of Europe.
Speaking ahead of an emergency meeting on the heatwave, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said: “A sad scourge when it comes to drownings, as the latest figures just reported to us show 40 deaths since June 18, most of them young people.”
Across France, people have been jumping into canals and rivers to cool off. French sports minister Marina Ferrari said she understood the urge to escape the heat but warned against swimming in unauthorized or dangerous areas.
The AC situation in Europe is a little rough. I stayed in Paris in a niceish hotel and the AC could not keep up with the heat when I was there. It was maybe a 10 degree difference inside vs out, and the humidity did not drop much. This was 10 years ago so maybe more places have better ac now, but I don’t think every place had AC then.
Depends on the country and the region within. The further you move south, the more ACs you’ll see. Up until recently, there wasn’t a reason for countries north of italy to have AC everywhere.