France closed 845 schools, banned public drinking in high-alert zones, and placed emergency services and military forces on wildfire alert as a major heat wave swept across parts of Europe this weekend.
About a third of France was under a red heat alert on Sunday. Temperatures in some areas were forecast to reach 104 degrees Fahrenheit, and Monday was expected to be even hotter, according to CBS News.
France's annual Music Day fell on Sunday, a nationwide summer solstice celebration involving thousands of concerts in village squares, rave venues, and Paris clubs. The French government banned public drinking in red alert zones and ordered organizers of Music Day events to limit alcohol use to "preserve emergency services and allow medics to concentrate on taking care of the most vulnerable."
The Eiffel Tower and other Paris venues set up misting stations to cool crowds. Tourists in Rome sought relief in fountains. Spain's Basque Country canceled some sports and cultural events. Some French trains were also canceled, and the national rail authority dispatched thousands of extra staff to deal with potential heat-related problems affecting rails and electrical cables.
Authorities placed particular focus on vulnerable populations. About 15,000 older people died in France during a 2003 heat wave that became a national reckoning. The World Health Organization's Europe office reported this month that more than 200,000 people across Europe died from heat-related causes over the last four years, and that most of those deaths were preventable.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu convened a government heat crisis meeting Sunday and ordered ministers to plan for better adapting France to future heat waves, including, as the government put it, "via air conditioning, if necessary."
The government also ordered tightened surveillance of water supplies to France's many nuclear reactors.
Human-caused climate change is linked to increasing extreme weather events. A rapid study found that human-caused climate change was responsible for killing about 1,500 people in an unusually early European heat wave last month.
