France bans public drinking as Europe swelters

France banned public drinking in its hottest areas and put emergency crews and military forces on wildfire alert as a severe heat wave spread across parts of Europe, pushing temperatures toward 104 degrees Fahrenheit and forcing cancellations from train routes to street festivals.

About a third of France was under the highest heat alert on Sunday, with around half the country, including Paris, placed under red heat-wave alerts for Monday as forecasters warned temperatures could peak near historic levels. Bordeaux, in southwestern France, reached 40 degrees Celsius, or 104 Fahrenheit, on Sunday.

The heat coincided with France’s annual Fête de la Musique, a summer solstice celebration that fills village squares, rave venues and Paris clubs with concerts. Authorities banned alcohol consumption in public places in red-alert zones and told organizers of state-backed events not to offer alcohol.

“For all events organised by the state and its agencies, instructions have been given not to offer alcohol,” the office of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said.

The government said the alcohol limits were meant “to preserve emergency and healthcare services and allow medical staff to focus on caring for the most vulnerable.” Last year, about two million people attended music festival events in Paris, the BBC reported.

Authorities in Paris set up misting stations at the Eiffel Tower and other venues, and parks and gardens in the capital were being kept open overnight to help residents and visitors cool down. In Rome, tourists sought relief by dipping their arms and faces into the city’s fountain pools.

The heat has disrupted daily life across France. The government ordered 845 schools to close Monday, tightened monitoring of water supplies to the country’s nuclear reactors and announced reinforced wildfire readiness. Some trains were canceled, and the national rail authority sent thousands of extra staff to respond to potential heat-related problems affecting rails and electrical cables. Classes and some government services were also suspended, the BBC reported.

Lecornu convened a government heat crisis meeting Sunday and ordered ministers to plan for better adapting France to heat waves, including “via air conditioning, if necessary.” Air conditioning is not widespread in much of Europe, where extreme heat can be especially dangerous.

The World Health Organization’s Europe office said this month that more than 200,000 people across Europe died from heat-related causes over the past four years and that most of the deaths were preventable. Authorities are particularly concerned about people living on the streets, elderly residents in nursing homes and older people isolated at home. About 15,000 older people died in France during a 2003 heat wave.

Météo-France said it was “uncertain” how long the current heat wave would last. The BBC reported that hot air moving north from the Sahara desert was helping trap heat over western and central Europe.

Spain began the summer with large areas on alert as temperatures were expected to hover around 104 Fahrenheit. The Basque Country, a northern region that usually has cooler weather, canceled some outdoor sports and cultural activities. Spain’s weather agency issued red and orange alerts in several regions and warned of 40-degree Celsius heat across large parts of the country. The heat wave is expected to affect Spain at least through Wednesday.

Italy expanded red heat warnings to eight cities Sunday, including Bologna, Florence, Milan and Turin, with temperatures ranging from the high 90s to the low 100s Fahrenheit. At a farm outside Milan, owners used fans and sprinklers to keep cows cool. Thunderstorms also threatened several regions.

Britain’s weather office issued an “extreme heat” warning for much of southern England and parts of Wales on Monday and Tuesday, saying temperatures could exceed 95 Fahrenheit, just below the country’s June record set in 1976. In Germany, where temperatures reached the mid-90s, a 23-year-old man drowned Saturday in a lake near Rheinstetten, the German news agency dpa reported. Three other people were missing after swimming in the Rhine River, and French media reported that four children drowned Saturday.