Europe heatwave live: Temperatures of 40C expected in Spain, with amber heat health warning in place across large parts of UK
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- AFP calculates that 135 million Europeans — particularly in France, Italy, Spain and the UK — will face temperatures above 35°C on Thursday, with nearly 340 million (three in five European residents) set to surpass 30°C.
- Met Office has placed an amber heat warning from London to Sheffield, covering the South East, East Midlands, East of England, West Midlands and South Yorkshire from 9am to midnight Thursday, with forecaster Alex Burkill saying highs of 36–38°C are possible and could break the August record.
- England and Wales are now in drought across nearly three-quarters of England and all of Wales after record-dry July and a dry start to August, with 1,017 wildfires logged this year — already matching 2025's full-year record, per the National Fire Chiefs Council.
- Romania has begun the complete shutdown of its only nuclear plant at Cernavoda after Danube water levels used to cool the site fell to a record low; one of the two reactors was already offline last month.
- Andy Burnham said the government will consider banning disposable barbecues as UK wildfires continue, though campaigners criticized the failure to link the blazes more broadly to the climate crisis; buried coals can reach 450°C and ignite fires long after use.
- 80 French departments have been placed on an orange heat warning as the continent's latest heatwave intensifies.
Why it matters: Infrastructure built for milder weather is straining under the heat: the Met Office warns UK rails and roads were not designed for these temperatures, and Romania's Cernavoda — typically a fifth of national electricity — is now fully offline because the Danube fell to record lows. The UK's 2026 wildfire count has already matched all of 2025 by mid-August, with three-quarters of England and all of Wales now in drought.
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