As Europe struggles with a heatwave, countrys across the continent are breaking temperature records.
On Tuesday, eight counties in Ireland were issued a yellow warning. Counties Clare, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Galway, Kilkenny, Laois and Offaly were issued the yellow warning as Met Éireann warned that maximum temperatures in excess of 27°C combined with night-time minima in excess of 15°C is expected.
Britain and France have recorded their hottests days of the year, and have reported that there several deaths in the past week due to drowning accidents that authorities have linked with the baking heat.
Portugals health minister Ana Paula Martins reported that there has been a rise in hospitalisations due to the weather as temperatures reached 40.3C, according to RTE.
Italy have issued a warning for people in Rome and four nothern cities to stay out of the sun after they issued a red heat warning. This marks their first red warning of the year. The cities urged to stay out of the sun are Florence, Bologna, Brescia and Turin, and Rome as officials state that the heat could impact the health of "healthy, active people".
A school in the southwest of France was forced to shut this week due to the extreme hot weather. Temperatures reached 37.8C, in the southwestern city of Angoulême, and 34C in Paris.
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu held a ministerial meeting yesterday afternoon to develop a plan to deal with the impacts of extreme heat. Lecornu wanted ensure their readiness in the event of a forest fire and to make sure they had sufficient water supplies over the summer.
Although some schools are closing due to the heat, it has been stated that the Baccalaureate exams (French equivalent of the Leaving Cert) will continue. Education Minister Édouard Geffray told BFMTV that exam centres will be able to choose the rooms with the most shade. The exams will go ahead "simply because the students are prepared and... there is also a schedule according to which they expect their results," Geffray said, according to the BBC.
