Europe’s first major heatwave of the year peaked on Wednesday and Thursday, delivering temperatures more typical of July. Italy’s northern plains touched 36°C, and France set a new record for the national average temperature, breaking the one established just a day earlier. In Britain, Kew Gardens recorded the hottest May day ever at 35.1°C. The human toll mounted quickly: nine drownings, mostly teenagers, were reported in the UK as people flocked to lakes and beaches, prompting the Royal Life Saving Society to warn that drowning risk multiplies by five above 25°C. French authorities spoke of seven heat-related fatalities. Satellite images from the ESA’s Sentinel-3 captured a vast red stain of surface temperatures, the signature of a heat dome anchored over the continent.

From Rome, the Italian health ministry placed four cities — Rome, Florence, Bologna and Turin — under its highest red alert, noting that even the healthy faced medical risks. France issued orange warnings for 13 departments, with Météo-France calling the heat ‘unprecedented for May.’ In Spain and Portugal, yellow alerts were activated as the mercury reached 37°C and 38°C respectively. The heatwave, propelled by an immense sub-tropical anticyclone, has produced thermal anomalies of 10-12°C above seasonal norms; the Alpine zero-degree isotherm hovered at an exceptional 4000 metres. While Britain braced for thunderstorms and hail under a yellow warning, the Mediterranean basin continued to swelter.

The UN’s climate chief, Simon Stiell, described the heatwave as a ‘brutal reminder’ of the cost of the world’s dependence on coal, oil and gas, and deforestation. His statement, released as Indian cities endured 47.4°C, linked Europe’s ordeal to simultaneous extremes across Asia. Italian meteorologist Daniele Cat Berro told local media that such early-season heat would become increasingly common, a view echoed across European forecasters. The parallel crises — from the Po Valley to Uttar Pradesh — underscore the way a warming atmosphere loads the dice for extreme weather.

The immediate forecast offers respite: cooler Atlantic air is expected to push the heat dome eastward by the weekend. Yet the episode leaves deeper anxieties. French cereal and sugar beet farmers, caught by surprise, warned that prolonged heat could hit yields, even as some stone-fruit growers noted a boost in sugar concentration. Health services from England to Italy reported spikes in online heatstroke consultations. With the summer solstice still weeks away, the early arrival of such temperatures raises hard questions about preparedness — and strengthens calls for a faster transition to clean energy.