Forty drown across France in heatwave and parts of Spain above 30C at night

Forty people have drowned while swimming in unsupervised areas across France in recent days, the prime minister has said, as people across the country sought respite from the record-breaking heatwave sweeping across much of Europe . “There is a tragic scourge of drownings,” Sébastien Lecornu said on Tuesday. “The latest figures we’ve received are 40 deaths since 18 June. Most of the victims are young people.” Lecornu was preparing to chair a crisis meeting with ministers to address the ferocious early summer heatwave that has left parts of western France bracing for temperatures of up to 43C (109F). “We’re experiencing an episode of exceptional intensity,” Lecornu said. “Every day and every night, local and national temperature records are being broken.” The national weather service, Météo-France, said 54 departments had been placed under a red heatwave alert as “oppressive and exhausting” heat smothered about half of the country. It said overnight temperatures were the hottest since record-keeping began in 1947. A dog walker cools off her charges in a mist fountain in central Paris. Photograph: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images Early on Tuesday, France’s national heat index, an average of the day and night-time highs measured at 30 weather stations across France, reached a record 21.6C, according to preliminary figures. The previous record of 21.4C was set on 25 July 2019. …