To cool down, nuclear power plants pump water from local rivers or the sea, which they then release back into water bodies at a higher temperature. However, this process can threaten local biodiversity if water is released which is too hot.

Italy limited work outdoors, France shut schools and Turkey battled wildfires on Tuesday in a European heatwave that meteorologists said was "exceptional" for striking so early this year.

According to France’s national environment agency Ademe, only 25 per cent of French homes had air conditioning in 2020 which was 14 per cent up from 2016.

Sixteen departments have been placed on red alert, the highest level of warning, and 68 on orange alert as France faces the peak of a lengthy heatwave, which has already lasted 13 days.

Wildfires were raging in Spain and France on Tuesday after a dayslong heat wave parched landscapes in the region and turned woodlands into tinderboxes.

Paris was on red alert for high temperatures on Tuesday, with the top of the Eiffel Tower shut, polluting traffic banned and speed restrictions in place as a searing heatwave gripped Europe.Mediterranean countries from the Iberian peninsula through France and Italy to the Balkans and Greece have been sweltering in a heatwave for several days,

South-west and Brittany are the only areas likely to avoid storms this evening after several temperature records were broken in the south yesterday

The Acropolis is closing temporarily on Tuesday as soaring temperatures continue to grip Greece. The popular site in the capital city of Athens was shutting from 13:00-17:00 local time (11:00-15:00 BST), the country's culture ministry said.

Rome and Paris zoos served up frozen treats to its animals on Wednesday as the European capitals were caught in a severe heat wave.

A wildfire in southern France on Tuesday that forced Marseille airport to close and interrupted train traffic has not been fully contained, the country’s interior minister said. Several forest fires have raged in recent days in southern France,