Europe’s heatwave conditions left around 68,000 households without power in France’s northwestern Finistere department on Wednesday after a heat-related transformer incident, authorities said.
France’s national temperature indicator reached 29.8°C on Tuesday. AFP reported that it was the hottest reading since measurements began in 1947.
Four more French departments were placed under the highest heat alert on Wednesday. AFP calculations showed about 44 million people were affected.
More than 90% of France’s population faced extreme heat when areas under orange alert were included. Temperatures of 39°C to 41°C were expected across Brittany, the Paris region and much of southwest France.
Power teams worked through the night after the outage began late Tuesday. Full electricity restoration was not expected before the end of Wednesday at the earliest.
Up to 106,000 clients of the French power network were without power by late Tuesday. Retailers reported a surge in cooling demand.
Carrefour chief executive Alexandre Bompard said the chain sold 30,000 fans and air conditioners by 6:30 pm on Monday.
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Italy’s health ministry issued red heatwave alerts for 16 cities on Wednesday, including Milan and Rome.
Poland, Croatia, Hungary and the Netherlands also issued or planned high-level heat alerts as the heatwave spread across Europe.
In Britain, the National Association of Head Teachers said schools were making heat-related adjustments this week.
