Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap!
A vicious heatwave has engulfed southern Europe, with punishing temperatures that have reached highs of 46C (114.8F) in Spain and placed almost the entirety of mainland France under alert.
Extreme heat, made stronger by fossil fuel pollution, has for several days scorched Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece as southern Europe endures its first major heatwave of the summer.
The high temperatures have prompted the authorities in several countries to issue new health warnings and scramble firefighters to prevent wildfires from breaking out.
We also covered why Spanish street thermometers don’t always show the actual temperature (14:56), what Spanish rail operators do to help passengers in this heat (14:29), and admired Neil’s pig Nina as it bathed to beat the heat this morning (14:08).
Elsewhere,
A former senior official in Spain’s ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) has been remanded in custody by a supreme court judge investigating corruption allegations that have put the country’s centre-left government under unprecedented pressure (16:58).
Germany’s defence minister said the country would send navy ships to patrol Arctic waters, citing the threat from a Russian military build-up in the region, AFP reported (16:46).
EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said on Monday he will fly to Washington on Tuesday for trade talks with the US administration. Šefčovič spoke after announcing the EU had agreed a new long-term trade deal with Ukraine (16:31).
The Kremlin accused the organisers of anti-government protests in Serbia, a close Russian ally, for staging an attempted “colour revolution,” after 140,000 protests rallied in Belgrade demanding early election (16:15).
And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com.
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
Your experiences of European heatwave
Let’s take another look at your emails about the heatwave (thanks for so many of them!).
Tim says he is on holiday in Portugal and on a train from Lisbon to Faro with his wife.
“It’s 39 outside and the train has NO AIR CON! … ridiculous and obviously dangerous. Only two and a half hours left,” he says.
Archie in Lisbon reports similar struggles with his partner and their nine-month-old puppy, Albi.
“It has been ferociously hot over the last couple of days and many people (including us) don’t have AC units at home so it becomes quite difficult to function.”
He says that “last night the temperature didn’t fall below 31 here and there was little to no breeze so the apartment started off with a temperature of 34 degrees at 7 am.
“On the plus side, I’ve learned to make Gazpacho,” he says, adding a picture of the said puppy, Albi, “reluctantly wearing a damp tea towel” (cute!).
Emma is north of Catalonia and says she just spends “as much time indoors as possible but I see people who have to work outdoors or don’t have the means to cool their homes sufficiently.”
“I live and work in the countryside and it’s immensely sad to see nature having to deal with these atypical temperatures: bird chicks prematurely fledging because their nests are like ovens, animals having to travel many more kilometres to find water sources; trees that are stressed and flowers needed by pollinating insects already dried up.
Heartbreaking all round.”
Faith emails in to say it’s “insanely hot in the Corbières (max 39 today at 4pm rising to max 40 tomorrow … argh!)” and there is “none of the usual tramontane wind to cool us down.”
But the local council has “thoughtfully opened its air-conditioned council chamber to any locals seeking refuge from the heat – a wonderfully considerate gesture!”
LN is also in France, reporting “outside temps locally are 38C and climbing; tomorrow is forecast to be 39C, but given how we’ve exceeded the predictions recently, we’re expecting 41C”
“The fact that this is happening and it’s only June terrifies me as does the fact that every day, the forecast pushes the heat to one day more and even after it breaks, we’re apparently only in for a few ‘normal’ days before it starts climbing again.”
Gayle is in Andalusia and says he is just “sitting at home in my underwear, not a pretty sight” when it’s 39C outside.
“On ecological grounds we do not have air conditioning, only ceiling or electric fans. … It saps energy …”
But looking for positives, he adds:
“But on the upside as pensioners we have to do bugger all.”
Bastian in Vienna is getting ready for what’s about to hit central Europe in the next few days.
“Here in Vienna, we’ve been coping for weeks with temperatures above 30C. On Thursday, we are expecting temperatures above 38C.
This is the new normal in Vienna between June and September.
Unfortunately, most people in Austria are not prepared for this heat, unlike in Spain or southern France. Most people don’t own an AC. Vienna is very ‘concrety’ and there are not many places to cool down.”
Updated
Spanish PM’s former right-hand man detained in corruption investigation
A former senior official in Spain’s ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) has been remanded in custody by a supreme court judge investigating corruption allegations that have put the country’s centre-left government under unprecedented pressure.
Santos Cerdán, who served as the PSOE’s organisational secretary and was the right-hand man of the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, quit earlier this month after a judge found “firm evidence” of his possible involvement in taking kickbacks on public construction contracts.
Cerdán’s alleged criminal activities, which have become the latest in a slew of corruption allegations against Sánchez’s circle, led the prime minister to demand his resignation and to apologise to voters, but he dismissed calls for a snap general election.
On Monday, Cerdán appeared at the supreme court to testify over the allegations – which he denies – of bribery, influence peddling and criminal association. After giving evidence, he was denied bail and remanded in custody by the judge, Leopoldo Puente.
German navy to patrol the Arctic against rising Russian threat
Germany’s defence minister said the country would send navy ships to patrol Arctic waters, citing the threat from a Russian military build-up in the region, AFP reported.
“Maritime threats are mounting... To name but a few, Russia is militarising the Arctic,” Boris Pistorius said at a press conference alongside his Danish counterpart, Troels Lund Poulsen.
The announcement comes at a time when attention to security in the Arctic has been heightened, with US president Donald Trump vowing to annex the Danish autonomous territory of Greenland for security reasons – while accusing Denmark of having under-invested in its security, AFP noted.
EU trade commissioner to fly for trade talks with US after new Ukraine deal
EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said on Monday he will fly to Washington on Tuesday for trade talks with the US administration.
“We are absolutely focusing on … a positive outcome,” he told reporters, Reuters said.
Šefčovič spoke after announcing the EU had agreed a new long-term trade deal with Ukraine, covering imports of food products from the war-torn country that have angered EU farmers.
You can see the EU’s full press release on the agreement here.
Kremlin says anti-government protests could amount to attempted 'colour revolution'
The Kremlin said on Monday that it could not rule out the possibility that anti-government protests in Serbia, a close Russian ally, could be an attempted “colour revolution”, but that it believed the Serbian leadership could restore calm, Reuters reported.
The agency added that Serbian police on Saturday clashed with anti-government protesters demanding snap elections and an end to the 12-year rule of president Aleksandar Vučić.
On Sunday, Vučić insisted that he would not cave in to the 140,000 protesters who rallied in the capital overnight demanding early elections, while vowing more arrests following clashes, AFP added.
AFP journalists saw riot police using tear gas and batons as protesters hurled flares and bottles at rows of officers in several clashes following the massive gathering in Belgrade.
Months of protests across Serbia, including university shutdowns, have rattled Vučić, a populist, whose second term ends in 2027, when there are also parliamentary elections scheduled.
Putin wants Ukraine's capitulation, German foreign minister warns in Kyiv
German foreign minister Johann Wadephul is in Kyiv today, where he warned that Russian president Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to surrender and is not ready for peace talks.
“Putin is not ceding on any of his maximalist demands – he doesn’t want negotiations, he wants a capitulation,” he said, as reported by AFP.
“Ukraine’s freedom and liberty is the most important task of our foreign and security policy,” Wadephul said in a statement released by his ministry, as he warned that Putin was “betting on a weakening of our support”.
His comments come after Russia has fired more than 500 aerial weapons at Ukraine overnight on Sunday, in a barrage that Kyiv described as the biggest air attack so far of the three-year war.
The bombing appeared to target several regions far from the frontline, he said, including in western Ukraine. The Russian army said on Sunday its overnight attack hit Ukrainian military-industrial complex sites and oil refineries, and that it had intercepted three Ukrainian drones overnight.
Let’s take a moment to catch up with other, non-weather-related events across Europe.
Spain records highs of 46C and France under alert as Europe swelters in heatwave
Ajit Niranjan, European environment correspondent, and Sam Jones in Seville
A vicious heatwave has engulfed southern Europe, with punishing temperatures that have reached highs of 46C (114.8F) in Spain and placed almost the entirety of mainland France under alert.
Extreme heat, made stronger by fossil fuel pollution, has for several days scorched Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece as southern Europe endures its first major heatwave of the summer.
The high temperatures have prompted the authorities in several countries to issue new health warnings and scramble firefighters to prevent wildfires from breaking out.
“Extreme heat is no longer a rare event – it has become the new normal,” said António Guterres, the secretary general of the United Nations, at a development conference in Seville on Monday.
Updated
Hottest ever opening day at Wimbledon in London
This year’s Wimbledon tennis championships have begun with the hottest opening day on record, according to the Met Office, as reported by PA.
Temperatures reached a provisional high of 29.7C (85.5F) at Kew Gardens in west London on Monday afternoon, surpassing the previous record of 29.3C set in June 2001.
Spectators queued from the early hours to enter the All England Club in south-west London, with many using fans, umbrellas and sunscreen to cope with the heat.
Vicki Broad, 57, a retired nurse from Swansea, who was the first person in the queue, said: “The sun has been tough but we’re in the shade now.”
You can follow all the action live on our tennis live blog here:
Updated
Spanish street thermometers show temperatures higher than they are
Reports on scorching temperatures in Spain often feature photos showing street thermometers with terrifying readings that are often higher than the actual temperature.
Why?
Because street thermometers, which are exposed directly to the sun and to hot road surfaces, reflect the temperature of their electronic sensors, which are encased in boxes.
That’s why the temperature readings are higher than in the surrounding area. So best to take those readings with a pinch of salt.
Weather experts – such as Spain’s state meteorological office, Aemet – use specially constructed and officially regulated thermometer posts for their readings.
They explained all of this in this helpful social media thread last year.
Key event
Earlier today, a reader has kindly shared a picture of a street thermometer in Seville, Spain showing 48 Celsius (11:56).
But, as Sam Jones, tells me, these measurements need to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Over to him to explain.
Wildfires rage in Turkey with firefighting efforts continuing
In Turkey, wildfires raged for a second day in the western province of Izmir, fanned by strong winds, forestry minister İbrahim Yumaklı said, forcing the evacuation of four villages and two town neighbourhoods, AFP reported.
Turkey’s coastal regions have in recent years been ravaged by wildfires as summers have become hotter and drier, which scientists say is a result of human-induced climate change, AFP added.
A note from our own environmental team at the Guardian tells me that:
Fire weather – a combination of heat, drought and strong wind – is increasing in some parts of all continents.
Human-caused climate breakdown is responsible for a higher likelihood of fire and bigger burned areas in southern Europe, northern Eurasia, the US and Australia, with some scientific evidence of increases in southern China.
Climate breakdown has increased the wildfire season by about two weeks on average across the globe.
travelling from Madrid to Seville
Just boarded train to Seville and a lovely member of staff of the state rail company, Renfe, has handed me this fetching fan.
“Boys don’t normally go for them,” she laughed as I grabbed it from her gratefully.
It is so bloody hot – and will be much, much worse in Seville.
Your experiences of European heatwave
Thanks for more emails from you on how you’re dealing with the heatwave.
Lluís tells me he is just about coping with this heat “over the past few days, in Premià de Dalt, a small town 20 min north from Barcelona.”
“My son Pau (10) and daughter Llúcia (8), already on vacation, have intensively used our community pool.
But the most challenging is night-time, when our house is still warm from the day’s heat and outside the temperature has not gone below 26º C (not a minute throughout the night!). AC is paramount!”
Jamie and his friends were “lucky to have camped last night at 2000m just above Ax Les Thermes in southern France.”
“It was a balmy 30C at midnight and likely to peak at 34C today. We drank a decent whisky with ice cold water from an unpolluted mountain stream. It was pretty tidy. Pity the poor souls down in the valley where it’s to be 41C+ this afternoon.”
Michael emails in to say he and his friends just incredibly “completed a 40 mile walk over 4 days through hilly Southern Tuscany in 34C”
“Starting early, wide brimmed hats, sunscreen, 2 litres of water each and a hotel with a cool swimming pool at the end of each day kept us going.
Now off to cool down in Florence where it is 38C!”
Make sure to get some gelato while there!
And finally, my favourite email of the day so far from Neil in “very hot Évora, Portugal (already 36 degrees at 11am, going to reach the low 40s again later today!)”.
In case you needed some different content, I am sharing some pictures of Nina, my pig, cooling off in her bath before the afternoon heat comes. Feel free to use!
Yes, Neil, we love pictures of pigs cooling off from the heat!
So, everyone, meet Nina:
How are you being affected by the heatwave?
We would like to hear from people in the south of Europe who are experiencing high temperatures. How are you coping and what steps are you taking to deal with high temperatures? What is your home and working environment like?
You can also separately email me on jakub.krupa@theguardian.com, as before!
Updated
Spanish weather agency confirms new June record
Temperatures in southern Spain soared to 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit) on Saturday, a new record for June, the national weather agency said on Monday, AFP reported.
The mercury climbed to its new high on Saturday at 1440 GMT in Huelva, near the border with Portugal, edging out the previous record, 45.2C that was set in 1965 in Seville, it said.
The last three years have been the hottest on record for Spain, according to weather authorities.
Updated
Europe swelters under heatwave – in pictures
Germany bracing for heatwave later this week
in Berlin
Germany is bracing for its own heatwave this week, with temperatures threatening to reach 40 degrees in some areas by Wednesday. The northern region from Hanover to Brunswick could be hardest hit, forecasters said.
In Brandenburg state surrounding Berlin, the government has urged employers to take the danger to their staff into account.
“Companies are bound by heat protection rules at the workplace,” regional health minister Britta Müller said, including maintaining an acceptable temperature indoors and guarding against excessive sun exposure.
The heat and dry weather are also stoking the risk of forest fires, the German Weather Service said, with the south-western state of Baden-Württemberg most at risk, as well as northern Bavaria and parts of Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.
Many cities and regions have imposed limits on how much water can be taken from rivers, lakes and wells, with some areas imposing a ban on watering plants during the day. Residents are also being encouraged to save water where possible.
A cooler front followed by summer storms should douse the heat by the end of the week but could bring heavy rain and strong winds.
News outlet Der Spiegel said that given the extreme weather linked by scientists to climate change, it was notable that Friedrich Merz’s nearly two-month-old government is “not exactly standing out with an ambitious climate policy.”
“It is puzzling to see the new economy minister, Katherina Reiche, in recent days raising doubts about the legally binding aim of climate neutrality in Germany by 2045,” it said.
Reiche last week criticised fixed government targets for carbon dioxide emissions reductions by 2030 and 2035 as “too rigid” and suggested pushing back Germany’s climate neutrality goal by five years to 2050, the EU’s chosen date.
Intense heatwave tightens its grip in Italy with pressure on hospitals
in Rome
Hospital emergency units across Italy are under pressure as an intense heatwave tightens its grip.
Admissions were up by 20 percent in some of the hottest regions, for example Tuscany, with the patients being mostly elderly people and suffering from dehydration.
The heatwave is poised to endure for at least the next 10 days, with temperatures peaking at 42C in areas of the country’s south and islands.
Italy’s health ministry on Sunday placed 21 out of 27 cities on the highest heat alert, including Rome, Milan and Naples. People have been advised not to venture outside between 11am and 6pm.
Some regions, including Lazio, Umbria, Tuscany, Calabria and Puglia, are planning to ban outdoor working during the hottest hours of the day.
Wildfires have also been reported in Lazio, Sicilia, Campania and especially Sardinia amid the heat and winds, with 24 occurring on the island within a few hours.
Updated
Almost entire mainland France on 'unprecedented' heat alert
in Paris
In France — where heatwave alerts often centre on specific areas — for the first time in history, almost the entire mainland France was on alert.
“This is unprecedented,” said Agnes Pannier-Runacher, France’s ecology transition minister as a record 84 of the nation’s 96 mainland departments were placed on the second-highest “orange” heat alert.
Only a small sliver of the northern coast in Brittany and part of Normandy were not placed on alert.
In some areas, temperatures were expected to exceed 40 degrees on Monday and Tuesday, also creating drought warnings in 25 areas.
The government asked businesses to adapt staff hours to protect workers from the heat. A total of 200 public schools across France were to be partially or totally closed on Monday and Tuesday.
On the A86 motorway outside Paris, road speed limits were placed at 20km an hour to reduce pollution.
Firefighters were also on alert.
The first major fire of the summer broke out in the Corbières areas of Aude in the south-west at the weekend, believed to have been caused by a barbecue being transported in a trailer behind a car which had not been completely put out and still contained hot ash.
Some 400 hectares burned and more than 100 people were evacuated from the area as a precaution. The fire was under control on Monday morning.
Updated
Your experiences of European heatwave
Thanks for your first submissions on your experience of the European heatwave and how you’re dealing with it.
Rafael sends his greetings from Barcelona’s hottest neighbourhood, as he says:
“Due to the heat island effect, Barcelona is usually hotter than the surrounding countryside. But temperatures also vary within the city: the neighbourhoods situated at higher elevations are usually a bit cooler, while the old city, nearly at sea level, is usually hottest.
We are dealing with the heat by staying indoors, and by using fans and air conditioners. Because it’s next to the sea, Barcelona has high humidity, which makes the heat even more unbearable.”
Elaine shared a picture from her friend in Seville, showing 48 Celcius on a street thermometer. “You get the idea!”
Linda tells me about the preparations in the Netherlands, where the heatwave is expected to hit tomorrow.
“It’s expected to reach up to 38 degrees tomorrow. A heat warning is in place. Our children’s school is sending them home at 12pm tomorrow.”
Joanna is loving the heatwave, though:
“Have the enormous luck to be on a sailing boat in northern Sardinia at the moment. Can’t beat a sea breeze to keep the heat at bay.”
As is John, who is holidaying in Provence, France, and has this, unusual, way of dealing with the heat:
We’re coping by lazing by the pool … and Kevin, our friend from Dundee has a unique Scottish solution to coping with the heat, stand on your head for 10 minutes in the sun before jumping into a cold pool followed by a piping hot cup of tea!
Erm, what!?
Email me with your stories on jakub.krupa@theguardian.com.
Updated
What is the role of human-caused climate breakdown in causing heatwaves?
Human-caused climate breakdown is supercharging extreme weather across the world, driving more frequent and more deadly disasters from heatwaves to floods to wildfires. At least a dozen of the most serious events of the last decade would have been all but impossible without human-caused global heating.
Human-caused climate breakdown is making every heatwave in the world more intense and more likely to happen. Some, such as the extreme heatwave in western Canada and the US in 2021, would have been all but impossible without global heating.
And when it comes to the current heatwave, the Climate Shift Index, which shows if the weather anomaly is linked to climate change, is very much indicating just that for Spain, France and Italy at the moment, giving it the highest rating of plus five.
Your experiences of European heatwave - let me know
Eoin writes in to say:
Thanks for covering the heatwave. Spare a thought for those of us walking the Portuguese Camino de Santiag[o] - it was 42 (“feels like 44”) in Santarem last night.
The temperature is expected to hit a nice and breezy 41C today in Santarem in early afternoon today. Stay safe, Eoin!
If you are in the countries most affected by the heatwave, email me about your experiences – and how you’re dealing with it – at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com.
Spain on high heat alert after provisional June temperature record of 46C
in Madrid
Spain remains on high heat alert – especially after a provisional June temperature record of 46C (114.8F) was set on Saturday afternoon in El Granado in the Andalucían province of Huelva. The highest temperature previously recorded for June was the 45.2C logged in Seville in 1965.
The heatwave, which is forecast to last until Thursday, could see temperatures in parts of the country reach 42C on Monday.
Spain’s state meteorological office, Aemet, and its health ministry have warned people to take extra care in the heat.
“We are expecting abnormally high and persistent temperatures, during both day and night, that could pose a risk to vulnerable or exposed people,” Aemet said in a statement on Saturday.
The health ministry, meanwhile, has urged people to monitor weather alerts, to stay hydrated and out of the sun, and to check on those who may be at risk.
“Remember that while the heat affects us all, it affects different people in different ways,” it said.
“Take special care if you have a risk factor – these categories include: people aged over 65 and under four; pregnant women; people with chronic illnesses, and those in situations of loneliness or socioeconomic vulnerability.”
Spain recorded its highest ever temperature in August 2021, when the mercury in the Andalucían town of Montoro, near Córdoba, reached 47.4C.
A 2022 Aemet study found that the arrival of 30C temperatures across Spain and the Balearic islands had come an average of 20 to 40 days earlier over the past 71 years. “The summer is eating up the spring,” Aemet’s spokesperson Rubén del Campo told El País at the time.
“What’s happening fits perfectly with a situation where you have a warmer planet,” he said, adding that the rise in temperatures was a “direct and palpable [consequence] of climate change … The climate in Spain isn’t the one we used to know. It’s got more extreme.”
The ‘silent killer’: what you need to know about heatwaves
Heatwaves have grown hotter and stronger as the planet has warmed, making what doctors call a “silent killer” even more dangerous.
How worried should we be about heat – and how can we stay safe as the climate changes?
Hot weather kills an estimated half a million people each year. The average annual death toll is greater than that from wars or terrorism, but smaller than that from cars or air pollution.
High heat stresses the human body. When days are too hot to function and nights are not cool enough to recover, the heart and kidneys go into overdrive working to keep the body cool.
There are also secondary health effects from high heat. Heatwaves lead to more accidents, dirtier air, bigger wildfires and more frequent blackouts, all of which can increase the burden on health systems.
People who are forced to be outdoors in scorching weather – builders, farmers, rough sleepers – are most likely to suffer from heat exhaustion and the heatstroke that can follow.
But older people, and particularly those with underlying illnesses, make up the bulk of heat-related deaths. Women are more likely to die from heat-related causes than men. Poorer people – who are less likely to have air conditioning, well-insulated homes, or access to green spaces – are also at greater risk.
The simplest advice is to stay out of the heat: avoid going outside during the hottest parts of the day, and stay in the shade if you have to. To keep your home cool, close windows during the day and open them after dark, when outdoor temperatures fall below inside temperatures. Cover windows with blinds or curtains to block out direct sunlight.
Doctors also recommend drinking water frequently, wearing loose clothing and checking on vulnerable people in your community.
European heatwave - in pictures
Morning opening: It's hot out there
Large parts of Europe continue to be gripped by a heatwave today, with temperatures in mid to high 30s and low 40s Celsius and a range of health and environmental alerts issued across the continent, particularly its southern part.
France, Italy, Portugal and Spain, in particular, have seen extreme weathers over the weekend and they are likely to continue today.
Just take a quick look at the weather forecast: Rome, Madrid and Bologna (36C), Athens and Naples (35C), Lisbon (34C), Zagreb (33C), Paris (32C), London (31C).
There are pockets where the temperatures are even going to hit low 40s, such as in the Extremadura region of Spain.
In Italy, 27 cities were on high alert for extreme health on Sunday. In France, 84 of the nation’s 96 mainland departments are on the second-highest “orange” heat alert, AFP reported.
“This is unprecedented,” Agner Pannier-Runacher, France’s ecology transition minister said.
I will bring you all the latest updates from across Europe here.
It’s Monday, 30 June 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
Updated
