00:02Europe's early heat wave continues to wreak havoc as temperatures creep to new highs and red alerts spread across the
00:08continent.
00:09Tuesday was the hottest day ever in France with the country's national thermal indicator reading 29.8 degrees Celsius.
00:17France has recorded 40 fatalities from drowning in the past week as people seek relief in rivers and other bodies
00:24of water despite authorities' warnings about unsupervised swimming.
00:29In the UK, schools have been closed on Wednesday as a rare red weather warning comes into force.
00:36The country is bracing for record-breaking temperatures.
00:39Multiple UK train operators were forced to cancel or reduce services on Tuesday to avoid heat-related problems.
00:47Railway operators urged people to travel only if absolutely necessary on Wednesday and Thursday.
00:53Italy put 16 cities on red alert for heat waves on Wednesday, including Milan, Rome, Turin, Venice and Bologna.
01:01People have been advised to eat light foods and stay indoors during the hottest times of the day.
01:07A spike in households using air conditioning for cooling has sparkled blackouts in Milan and Turin.
01:14In Spain, the extreme heat is starting to abate with National Weather Service saying temperatures would drop in most of
01:21the country.
01:22Parts of the Basque country in northern Spain remained on red alert, but this is expected to end by Thursday
01:29with no areas rated red or orange.
01:32It will come as a relief after temperatures reached 44 degrees Celsius southern Andalusia on Tuesday.
01:39High-level heat warnings have also been issued in western Poland, where record temperatures are anticipated,
01:46while Hungary will raise its heat alert to the highest level between Saturday and Tuesday.
01:51Further heat-wave alerts have been issued in Croatia, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
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