Power cuts in France leave thousands sweltering amid scorching heatwave
A transformer fault left about 68,000 households without electricity as repair crews worked to restore service to healthcare facilities first.
- On Tuesday, a heat-related transformer failure in Ergué-Gabéric, Finistère, cut electricity to 68,000 households; grid operator RTE said full reconnection was not expected until at least the end of Wednesday.
- Meteorologists identified a rare 'Omega block' atmospheric pattern as the primary driver, trapping hot air over Europe and preventing circulation that normally moves weather systems across continents.
- Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu reported 40 drowning deaths since June 18, with most victims young people who sought relief in unsupervised waters during the extreme heat.
- Extreme conditions forced schools to close or adjust schedules, while the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Atomium in Brussels shortened operating hours as infrastructure strained under unprecedented heat.
- Meteo France warned of a 'plateau of severity' with unrelenting heat, while scientists noted the current episode was 'significantly exacerbated by human-induced climate change,' comparable to the 2003 heatwave that caused 15,000 deaths.
312 Articles
312 Articles
Western Europe suffers from a heat wave with dozens of deaths, cut-outs and school closures; the heat may continue all week.
Extreme heat is melting national records across Europe, with more coming Thursday
By Kara Fox, Andrew Freedman, Issy Ronald and Laura Paddison (CNN) — The United Kingdom has broken its record for hottest June temperature with the mercury hitting 96.4 degrees Fahrenheit (35.8 Celsius) in Wiggonholt, in the south of the country, according to provisional figures from the UK Met Office. This broke the previous June record of 96.08 degrees Fahrenheit (35.6 Celsius) last set in 1976. Punishing temperatures are scorching Europe as i…
The intense heat wave affecting Western Europe, responsible for more than 40 deaths in France alone, is being sustained by a meteorological pattern known as omega-blocking. See what this phenomenon is and whether climate change can make it more frequent in the coming years. What is omega-blocking? The omega-blocking gets that name because its format resembles the Greek letter: a central area of high pressure, associated with stable and warmer we…
More heat records expected as deadly ‘Omega’ heatwave grips Europe
Western Europe was in the grip of a deadly, record-setting heatwave on Wednesday that has killed dozens of people, closed schools, slowed trains, knocked out electricity and forced farmers to harvest grain at night.
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