标签： Europe

An unexpected early summer heat dome has sent temperatures soaring across Western Europe this week, forcing millions of residents to confront sweltering, dangerous conditions that have already broken preliminary temperature records and claimed dozens of lives. Climate experts confirm this extreme weather event is directly linked to a stationary high-pressure system, and warn that human-caused climate change is making such events more frequent, intense, and long-lasting than ever before.

To understand the phenomenon driving this heat wave, climate scientists explain that a heat dome originates from a distinct shift in the jet stream — the fast-flowing river of high-altitude wind that shapes global weather patterns. When the jet stream develops a large, persistent northward bulge, it traps a stable high-pressure system in the region below. Mireia Ginesta, a research associate at the Climate Litigation Lab hosted by the University of Oxford’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, breaks down the physics at play: sinking air within the high-pressure system compresses as it moves toward lower altitudes, raising both atmospheric pressure and air temperature, effectively locking hot, humid conditions in place for days on end. As Woodwell Climate Research Center climate scientist Jennifer Francis puts it, the heat dome describes the jet stream’s atmospheric behavior, while the heat wave is the tangible, surface-level impact that communities experience.

This week’s event has hit major European nations particularly hard. France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom are all recording far higher temperatures than average for mid-June, with forecasts calling for peaks as high as 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) across swathes of the continent. France has faced the most severe impacts so far: nearly half the country is under the national weather service’s highest-level red heat alert, and a lack of widespread residential and public air conditioning — a common feature across much of the region that has not historically faced consistent extreme heat — has left many residents without reliable ways to cool down. Dozens of drowning deaths have already been recorded across France, as people flocked to open bodies of water to escape the heat. Liz Bentley, chief executive of the UK’s Royal Meteorological Society and a meteorology professor at the University of Reading, predicts that the event will not just break long-standing June temperature records across the continent, but will obliterate them entirely.

Francis notes that Europe is still adapting to a new normal of extreme summer heat, noting that these brutal, deadly heat waves have only become common across the region in the last 10 to 20 years. Many communities still lack the infrastructure and public health systems to protect vulnerable populations from sustained extreme heat. Experts are uniform in their conclusion that anthropogenic climate change is the core driver of increasing heat dome frequency and severity. “We are warming the globe, and that means we’re shifting the range of temperatures that any given place experiences,” Francis explained. “As you shift that range of temperature, you’re making extreme temperatures much more likely.” Bentley echoed this assessment, comparing rising global temperatures to turning up a home thermostat. “Climate change is definitely having an impact on the fact that [heat waves] are more frequent, they are more intense, and they are more persistent as well,” she said. “They hang around a lot longer than they used to do.”

Public authorities across the affected region have rolled out emergency measures to reduce heat-related risk. In France, scheduled passenger train services, outdoor concerts, and public sporting events have been canceled, and officials have implemented a temporary ban on public alcohol consumption to reduce risky behavior and dehydration. Climate and public health experts have issued clear guidance for residents to stay safe during the event: maintain consistent hydration, avoid strenuous outdoor activity during the hottest midday and afternoon hours, seek out shaded or cool indoor spaces whenever possible, and cool off safely in designated public water areas if available. Francis also emphasized the underrecognized risk of overnight heat, which prevents the human body from recovering after a hot day. “If you don’t give your body a chance to cool off at night, heat just starts to accumulate in your body and that can really start to affect your health,” she said. “Figuring out a way to stay cooler at night is very, very important.”

The extreme conditions are expected to persist across most affected regions for at least several more days, and public health officials are urging residents to remain vigilant, particularly for elderly and vulnerable community members who face the highest risk of heat-related illness and death.

A widespread, record-challenging heatwave has swept across Western Europe this June, pushing temperatures toward unprecedented highs for the month and forcing governments, local authorities and communities to roll out emergency adaptive measures to protect residents. With meteorologists predicting long-standing temperature records will be broken across multiple nations in the coming days, the BBC dispatched correspondents across the continent to document how communities are coping with the unseasonable extreme heat.

In the Netherlands, Amsterdam is anticipating a peak temperature of 38C later this week, and city officials have launched a targeted network of public cool-down hubs to help residents escape the swelter. These shaded, accessible spaces are hosted in a wide range of public and commercial venues, including libraries, urban community farms, theaters, churches, neighborhood community centers and even local supermarkets. Each hub provides free drinking water, public seating and restroom access, with many welcoming pets to accommodate owners who need to leave overheated homes. The 12 pilot hubs are concentrated in Nieuw-West, the district identified by city climate modeling as facing the highest heat risk, after officials assessed factors including existing tree cover, the share of vulnerable residents (young children and elderly people) and how quickly local housing retains heat. Local schools have also adjusted their schedules, adopting modified “tropical timetables” that shorten the school day, reduce lesson loads, add more frequent rest breaks, increase water access and boost classroom ventilation. Since there is no national legal maximum temperature for classrooms, each school sets its own adjustments, with the core guiding principle of keeping both students and staff working in safe, healthy conditions.

Across the border in France, authorities have rolled out a range of low-cost and innovative solutions to beat the heat. Paris’ 10th arrondissement town hall has partnered with three independent air-conditioned cinemas to offer free afternoon movie tickets for residents under 25 or over 65, encouraging vulnerable groups to escape the heat in cooled spaces. In Lyon, the city has temporarily dropped entry fees for all municipal museums, which are fully air-conditioned, to draw residents seeking relief from temperatures. A quirky homemade cooling hack has proven so popular that DIY stores across the country have reported a surge in demand for Meudon Whiting (Blanc de Meudon), a chalky powder that homeowners mix with water and paint onto window panes. The coating diffuses incoming sunlight to reduce indoor heating, and many residents report the low-cost trick delivers noticeable temperature drops inside homes. In Nantes, one local school has already applied this chalk coating to its classroom windows to protect students during lessons.

In Spain, the northeastern region of Aragón is recording some of the continent’s highest temperatures during this heatwave, and local officials across the country have adapted public services to help residents cool off. In Zaragoza and Huesca, authorities have cut entry prices for public swimming pools, while the northern city of Logroño, which expects highs of 40C, has made all public pool entry entirely free for the duration of the heat emergency. The city has also extended operating hours for ornamental public fountains until 11 p.m. and activated mobile water sprinklers in public spaces for residents to cool off. Extreme dry conditions have forced the cancellation of traditional San Juan festival celebrations across multiple northern communities: the city of León scrapped a scheduled public fireworks display, and many towns have called off the traditional ritual bonfire over elevated wildfire risk. Like many other European nations, Spain has established a network of air-conditioned public heat refuges that any resident can access to escape extreme heat, and a 2024 national heat safety law mandates that employers implement protective measures for outdoor workers, including banning strenuous manual outdoor labor during the hottest peak hours of the day.

Italy is also facing extreme June heat that is unusual even for the Mediterranean nation, with more than a dozen cities already under top-level red heat warnings, and that list is expected to expand on Wednesday. The most severe conditions are concentrated in central and northern regions of the country. The Italian government has reactivated emergency support measures for heat-exposed workers, including farmers, construction crews and staff in poorly ventilated indoor workplaces. Under the policy, businesses can suspend or reduce operations during temperature peaks and access state-funded furlough payments to compensate workers without laying off staff. For most residents, the solution has been to run air conditioning at full blast with closed shutters, while vulnerable residents without home cooling are advised to seek out air-conditioned public spaces. Tourist services have also adapted: in Palermo, horse-drawn carriage rides, a popular tourist attraction, are only offered after dusk or on cooler days, while some restaurants in Turin have closed outdoor dining terraces to avoid exposing guests to dangerous heat. Other venues across Rome and northern Italy have ramped up use of giant outdoor fans and mobile sprinklers to cool outdoor spaces. The Italian Ministry of Health has also issued public guidance for people dining out, recommending diners choose pasta over heavier meat dishes and swap dehydrating coffee or cold beer for still water to avoid dehydration.

In Belgium, the most extreme heat is still approaching, with a national orange heat alert set to go into effect as temperatures climb toward the high 30s. The national weather service’s 1947 all-time June temperature record of 36.8C is widely expected to be broken this week. The Belgian federal government held an emergency cabinet meeting on Tuesday to coordinate the national response. The heat has already disrupted rail travel: older commuter trains not fitted with air conditioning have been temporarily pulled from service, while additional rail services have been added to accommodate crowds traveling to the cooler northern Belgian coast to escape the heat. A viral story from Brussels has highlighted how communities are adapting: high school students in the Brussels suburb of Tervuren moved their final exams into a local church to take advantage of the building’s naturally cool stone interior. The local pastor joked on Facebook that “the kids are doing their best, and the Holy Spirit is doing the rest.”

In Germany, forecasters predict record-breaking June temperatures will arrive on Friday, with highs potentially reaching 40C in western and southwestern regions of the country. Employers have adapted workplace policies for outdoor staff: Deutsche Post has advised postal workers to wear long-sleeved protective shirts and sun hats, while parent company DHL Group has added Bermuda shorts to the corporate clothing catalogue to allow for cooler work attire. After multiple drowning incidents over the past weekend, the German Life Saving Association (DLRG) has issued urgent warnings to residents underestimating the hidden risks of swimming in overheated natural waterways. The German Forest Conservation Association has also warned that the prolonged heat has pushed wildfire risk to critically high levels across the country, reminding residents that open fires are only permitted in designated, maintained fire pits at the edge of forests. Private health insurer DAK has also launched a dedicated public hotline to provide guidance on heat safety and managing heat-related health issues.

As the Russia-Ukraine conflict stretches into its fourth year, Ukrainian military forces have launched a new wave of coordinated drone strikes against critical infrastructure across Russia-occupied Crimea, part of Kyiv’s expanding campaign to cut off logistical access to the strategically vital peninsula.

Announced by Ukrainian defense officials this week, the attacks hit a series of high-value targets: an oil storage facility at the Kerch thermal power plant in eastern Crimea, a western regional electrical substation, and a liquefied natural gas distribution hub in Simferopol, Crimea’s second-largest urban center. In a separate operation, Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces — working alongside local Crimean resistance groups — confirmed they destroyed a key railway bridge spanning the North Crimean Canal near the village of Rozdolne. Ukrainian military spokespersons said the bridge served as a core logistics route for supplying Russian troops deployed in southern Ukraine. Initial drone strikes between Sunday and Monday collapsed a section of the structure, while a follow-up attack early Tuesday targeted repair crews and the bridge’s remaining intact segments, according to a post on the military’s official Telegram channel.

Independent verification of Ukraine’s claims remains unavailable as of Tuesday. Still, local energy suppliers in Crimea confirmed widespread power outages across multiple regions of the peninsula, though the Russian-appointed administration attributed the blackouts to unspecified “technical malfunctions” and said full service would be restored within 24 hours. The strikes have already created acute civilian disruptions: Russian authorities in Crimea have suspended retail gasoline sales to local residents, a disruption that comes amid the peak summer tourist season, when demand for fuel and energy typically surges.

The targeting of Crimea’s infrastructure aligns with Kyiv’s publicly stated strategy to fully isolate the peninsula, which Russian forces illegally seized and annexed from Ukraine in 2014. In comments to a popular blogger’s YouTube channel last week, Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov framed the campaign in stark terms: “We are isolating Crimea with drones. It looks like in the nearest time, Crimea will become an island. This could lead to some very unexpected consequences for Russians.” This month alone, Ukraine has also expanded its long-range strike capacity to hit targets near the Kremlin in Moscow and across Russia’s second-largest city, St. Petersburg, demonstrating Kyiv’s growing ability to strike deep inside Russian territory.

Western military analysts and diplomatic officials note that Ukraine’s stepped-up long-range campaign comes at a moment when large-scale Russian ground advances across eastern Ukraine have slowed to a near standoff. The strikes not only inflict tangible damage on Russian military capabilities and critical revenue streams — they also ramp up political and military pressure on the Kremlin. On Tuesday, Ukrainian defense officials added that since the start of 2024, Ukrainian drones have struck more than 800,000 Russian targets, and 95% of all drones deployed by Ukraine’s armed forces are now manufactured domestically, highlighting the rapid growth of Ukraine’s domestic defense tech sector.

These tactical successes have lifted morale across Ukrainian front lines, where troops have used advanced drone technology to hold back Russian attrition assaults that have proven costly for both sides since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Medium-range drones have consistently disrupted Russian frontline supply chains, while long-range strikes have repeatedly damaged Russian oil facilities — a core source of state revenue that funds Moscow’s war effort. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly reaffirmed that Ukraine remains committed to its defense, backed by sustained international support.

Addressing the U.N. Security Council on Monday, Ukrainian U.N. Ambassador Andrii Melnyk said Kyiv remains open to direct negotiations with Moscow to reach a “just and lasting peace” aligned with the U.N. Charter, but warned that Ukraine’s willingness to compromise has limits. “A ceasefire along the current front line already represents a major concession,” Melnyk said, adding that Russia must withdraw completely from all occupied Ukrainian territory. He also noted that recent Ukrainian strikes have shifted the overall dynamics of the conflict, stressing: “This is just the beginning.”

For its part, Moscow has moved to reinforce its alliance with neighboring Belarus. In comments Tuesday to Russian news agency Interfax, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Kremlin is prepared to “ensure the security” of its close ally, after Zelenskyy recently demanded that Minsk remove drone signal relay equipment from its territory that Kyiv says Russia uses to guide attacks on Ukrainian targets. Lavrov accused Kyiv of attempting to draw Belarus directly into the open conflict, a notable development given Russia originally launched its full-scale 2022 invasion from Belarusian territory.

In a landmark move to deepen cooperation and drive shared development across the island of Ireland, the Irish cabinet has approved a €377m (£325m) allocation from the government’s Shared Island Fund to deliver 12 new cross-border projects between 2027 and 2030. This latest round of investment pushes total commitments from the fund past the €1bn (£862m) mark, fulfilling the initiative’s core mission of backing infrastructure, environmental, cultural, and social projects that deliver tangible benefits to communities in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The single largest slice of this new funding, €228m (£197m), is earmarked for upgrading intercity rail connections across the two jurisdictions. Of this total, €193m (£166m) will go toward modernizing critical infrastructure along the Londonderry-Belfast-Dublin corridor, while the remaining €35m (£30m) will secure hourly Dublin-Belfast passenger services through at least 2030. Working in partnership, the Irish and Northern Irish governments have also set a target of cutting transfer times between the Dublin-Belfast and Belfast-Derry lines to just 15 to 20 minutes, slashing travel friction and boosting seamless connectivity between the three major urban centers.

Beyond rail upgrades, the funding package supports a wide range of cross-border priorities spanning sports, infrastructure, environment, and education. A £3m contribution from the fund will go toward redeveloping cricket facilities at Belfast’s Stormont Estate, part of preparations for the 2030 Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Ireland and the UK. Cricket Ireland and the Northern Ireland Civil Service Sports Association are each adding an extra £1m to the project, which will bring the Stormont grounds up to the international standard required to host World Cup matches. Expected to draw a global audience of hundreds of millions – the 2022 iteration of the tournament recorded 3.95 billion total viewing hours across all platforms – the 2030 event is set to be the largest broadcast sporting event in the island’s history.

A €40m (£34m) allocation has also been approved for an island-wide port development scheme, designed to expand cargo handling capacity at ports across Ireland to support growing trade and logistics demand. Another €30m (£26m) will fund the third phase of the Ulster Canal restoration project. This stage, which stretches 10km from Clonfad to Castle Saunderson, represents the flagship blueway segment of the wider restoration, creating new and refurbished navigable waterways that connect Clones to the existing Erne System and Shannon-Erne waterway. The project will also deliver a new 9km Ulster Canal Greenway for pedestrians and cyclists running from Clones to Gortnacarrow, boosting recreational tourism across the border region.

One of the most high-profile environmental projects to receive backing is a €33m (£28m) Lough Neagh Catchment Area Water Quality programme, aimed at addressing the severe blue-green algae outbreaks that have blighted the UK’s largest freshwater lake in recent years. The funding follows repeated cross-border discussions on the ecological crisis at the North South Ministerial Council, with Northern Ireland’s Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir describing the declining state of Lough Neagh as “one of the most distressing and visible environmental crises” Northern Ireland has faced in modern times. “This funding represents a joint commitment to our island’s largest freshwater lake and a substantial investment in its future,” Muir noted. The multi-faceted programme will combine on-the-ground infrastructure improvements with targeted resourcing, cross-border knowledge sharing, and collaborative governance to tackle the root causes of poor water quality and reverse ecological damage across the catchment area.

On the social development front, €13.5m (£12m) from the fund will expand professional development opportunities for early years educators across the island, creating 1,000 new upskilling places – 40% of which are reserved for educators based in Northern Ireland. The investment will also roll out a tailored training and capacity-building programme for more than 10,500 early learning and childcare providers, including registered childminders, with specialized resources to support the needs of all young children, including those with additional developmental requirements.

Announcing the approval of the new projects, Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin emphasized the long-term vision guiding the Shared Island Fund investment. “This is a major investment for our shared future on the island of Ireland with €377m committed through the Shared Island Fund for 12 new programmes,” Martin said. “This brings total government allocations from the fund so far to over €1bn, building a more connected, sustainable and prosperous island for all communities.”

As the 2026 peak summer travel season approaches, Europe’s aviation sector is grappling with mounting disruption caused by the European Union’s newly launched digital Entry-Exit System (EES), with top industry leaders warning of escalating chaos that threatens to derail the region’s vital tourism economy.

Completed its full rollout earlier this year, the EES mandates that all non-European Economic Area (EEA) travelers entering the Schengen Area submit biometric data—including facial scans and fingerprints—during entry checks, with a verification step required when they exit the bloc. While the system has functioned smoothly in a handful of member states, widespread reports of crippling processing delays have emerged at airports across the continent, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded and forcing airlines to revise travel guidance.

In stark comments delivered at an aviation industry conference in Prague, Stefan Schulte, president of Airports Council International (ACI) Europe and chief of Frankfurt Airport’s operating company, called out EU policymakers for downplaying the scale of the crisis. “Politicians should stop pretending that EES is working just fine. It is not,” Schulte stated, noting that passengers already face multi-hour waits during peak travel windows. With summer passenger volumes projected to jump sharply in the coming weeks, Schulte admitted industry leaders have no clear plan to absorb the added strain, calling the growing backlog a problem that “keeps me and other industry bosses awake at night.”

Multiple high-profile disruptions have already been linked to the new border rules. Earlier this month, dozens of Ryanair passengers bound for London Luton were left stranded in Athens after their flight departed without them. While neither the airline nor Athens airport explicitly named the EES as the cause, Ryanair cited widespread border delays, and the airport acknowledged congestion driven by “additional processing requirements.” This incident followed a similar disruption in April, when passengers flying from two Milan airports—Bergamo and Linate—to Manchester missed their flights after hours-long passport control queues. Low-cost carrier Wizz Air has already taken the step of urging British leisure travelers to arrive at European airports a full three hours before outbound departure to account for extended wait times.

Schulte has laid out urgent demands for EU regulators to address the crisis, calling for full authority for border control agencies to suspend EES processing during peak demand periods to prevent further disruption, alongside a complete overhaul of the system’s operating procedures. “This is about showing respect and decency for those who chose to travel to the EU, and safeguarding our reputation as a welcoming and efficient destination,” he explained.

The rollout has already sparked political friction between member states and EU institutions. Earlier this year, Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni pledged that British travelers would be exempt from biometric EES checks this summer to avoid burdening visitors with unnecessary red tape. However, the Greek Foreign Ministry later walked back the commitment, confirming no formal exemption had been approved. Unconfirmed reports also suggested Portugal and Italy were exploring similar exemptions for British nationals, but the European Commission has denied any such plans are under consideration.

The BBC has reached out to the European Commission, the body responsible for overseeing the EES, for comment on the growing criticism and disruption, but has not yet received a response.