France bans drinking alcohol in public to counter brutal heat wave

PARIS — France gritted its teeth Monday for a week of record-busting temperatures, sweltering in a heat wave combining daytime highs above 104 degrees Fahrenheit and sleep-robbing sweaty nights.The national weather service, Meteo France, said most of the country — the largest in the European Union — is entering unrelenting conditions that aren’t forecast to ease before Friday.Meteo France called the heat wave exceptionally intense, “similar to the August 2003 heat wave, but with a still uncertain duration.” France introduced a heat watch warning system after that heat wave, when the highest temperatures in over half a century caused an estimated 15,000 deaths, many of older people in apartments and retirement homes without air conditioning.Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing at twice the speed as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.Human-caused climate change is tied to increasing extreme weather, and UN climate agency projections say the next five years should shatter more heat records.Multiple towns in western and central France experienced their hottest night ever Sunday to Monday, Meteo France said.Paris baked through its hottest night for June, not getting below 75.5 F.The French capital broke another June record with 99.9 F recorded Monday afternoon.The weather service warned of even hotter nights: “This will continue through the end of the week, with heat levels never before recorded across more than three-quarters of the country on Wednesday and Thursday.”The heat wave worsened air quality in Paris as it causes the formation of ozone that traps pollution.

The air quality monitoring agency in the Paris region said pollutants were likely to exceed the recommended threshold.In a country without widespread air-conditioning, people tried to adapt.Education minister Edouard Geffray said 1,352 schools were closed on Monday due to the ...