More than 90 people have drowned in France since 19 June, a toll the country’s sports ministry directly links to the intense heatwave gripping the continent. The victims include very young children left unsupervised, as well as adolescents and young adults engaging in risky behaviour such as jumping from bridges or swimming in unsupervised canals, the minister, Marina Ferrari, told RMC radio. Neighbouring states have recorded similar clusters: 56 drownings in Poland, at least two in Belgium, five in Germany, and nine in England, according to local authorities and rescue services.

Transport networks across western and central Europe suffered extensive disruption as track infrastructure buckled under temperatures that exceeded 40°C in parts of France and set new records in the United Kingdom and Switzerland. In Germany, tram services were suspended in several cities after sealant between rail joints melted, while a long-distance train lost power when a storm-felled tree blocked the line, stranding 630 passengers without air conditioning. Belgium’s national operator cancelled more than 100 trains per day and permanently withdrew 200 carriages lacking cooling systems. French commuter lines cut around 10% of services in the Paris region, and Austria’s railway warned that tracks could deform further. In Sweden, a train derailed after heat warped the rails, severing the Stockholm–Gothenburg link.

Power markets reflected the strain. German month-ahead electricity futures rose 2.2% to €103.58 per megawatt-hour, near their highest since January, after June’s heatwave drove spot prices to €109.50 in Germany and €115.76 in the United Kingdom—the highest for the month since the 2022 energy crisis. Analysts at the London Stock Exchange Group noted that another heatwave could replicate the pressure, with weak wind generation and constraints on France’s nuclear fleet due to high cooling-water temperatures. During the June episode, hourly prices spiked to €665.82 in Germany and €313.36 in France, partly because generators priced in the risk of units failing to start or losing efficiency in extreme heat.

One Argentine news report cited a figure of 1,300 heat-related deaths across the continent, but that number has not been corroborated by official sources in the affected countries and appears to refer to a broader or earlier event. The French sports ministry described the drowning toll as “worrying” and announced a review of national lifeguard certification and efforts to make the profession more attractive. Forecasters see a high risk of further heatwaves this month, with temperatures expected to remain well above seasonal norms, particularly in France, where a combination of high pressure, unusually warm seas, and parched soils could intensify the next hot spell.