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Cooling by water cannon: Europe heatwave hits daily life, commutes
A video of traffic signal melting in Italy and Germany, widely shared on social media, depicts how infrastructure is crumbling under the harsh conditions
- PUBLISHED: Mon 29 Jun 2026, 10:00 AM
- By:
- AFP
Temperatures hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in parts of Europe on Sunday. Scientists have said the Europe heatwave, which began on June 20, was the worst recorded, and the blistering conditions have disrupted power generation, damaged infrastructure and overwhelmed healthcare systems.
"Right now 150 million people are living under extreme heat, hundreds have died, schools are shut, grids are buckling," World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on the X platform.
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The heatwave would have been "virtually impossible" without human-caused climate change, which has made this week's soaring night-time temperatures 100 times more likely than they would have been just two decades ago, according to scientists.
Here are the latest developments in the Europe heatwave, as of late night on June 28:
Fashion row in Paris
A giant artificial wave at the Louis Vuitton show in Paris Men's Fashion Week has been attracting heat-related controversy.
Internet users accused the brand of wasting water during the heatwave. But LVMH, which owns Louis Vuitton, insisted the water would be "re-injected into the sewerage system".
Germany transport hit
In Germany, train services were reduced on a major rail line in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia and trams were suspended in the eastern city of Leipzig. Many people hunkered down at home, reluctant to go outside until the sun went down, local media reported.
Extreme heat also caused the surface of the A2 motorway in Germany to buckle and rupture over several lanes on June 26 evening.
Cooling by cannon
The Berlin police used water cannons to help residents of the capital cool off on Saturday and Sunday.
France tallies 1,000 extra deaths
France's national health agency has tallied around 1,000 more deaths than usual since June 24, warning that the figure will rise further.
Many of the extra fatalities are among those aged 65 and upwards, the agency said, after logging a 40 percent rise in the number of people dying at home.
Poland breaks record
Poland broke its all-time heat record with temperatures reaching 40.5ºC in the western town of Slubice, a spokeswoman for the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW) told AFP.
New Czech mark
The Czech Republic broke another temperature record, hitting 41.9ºC at Doksany north of Prague, the meteorological institute CHMI said.
"This is the first time we have ever registered a temperature of 41 degrees in our official weather station network," CHMI added on X.
Germany hits 41.7ºC
Germany set a new temperature record at 41.7ºC, according to preliminary data from the German weather service (DWD) told AFP.
It was recorded at a station in Coschen, near the Polish border, breaking the previous record of 41.5ºC set just a day earlier in Drewitz.
German night breaks record
The temperature in Kubschuetz in the east did not fall below 29.4ºC during the night, according to the German weather service (DWD), making it the warmest night since records began almost 150 years ago.
191 million facing 35ºC heat
At least 191 million people are forecast to endure temperatures of at least 35ºC on Sunday in Europe, with the heat particularly intense in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, according to AFP estimates.
Belgian storm death
One person died in Belgium overnight when a tree fell on his vehicle just outside Brussels, media said, after violent storms hit much of the country.
German night breaks record
The temperature in Kubschuetz in the east did not fall below 29.4ºC during the night, according to the German weather service (DWD), making it the warmest night since records began almost 150 years ago.
Rock festival cancelled
The 30th edition of the Garorock music festival in Marmande just south of Bordeaux was called off Sunday after the prefecture issued a thunderstorm warning.
Around 100,000 tickets had been sold for the event, which will take a financial hit estimated at more than three million euros.