Abu dhabi: France recorded its hottest day ever on Tuesday as an early heat wave gripped Europe, prompting the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre museum to restrict visiting hours and disrupting school and transportation schedules in multiple countries.
According to Emirates News Agency, punishing temperatures extended to the United Kingdom and Spain, where weather agencies issued red alerts, similar to France, about the risks of extreme heat for tens of millions of people.
The record of 29.8 C (85.6 F) for France's national thermal indicator, which represents an average of temperatures measured at 30 weather stations, marks only the latest in a series of unprecedented highs impacting Europe's largest country. The conditions are expected to persist at least until the weekend.