Europe's heatwave shifts east as France raises health alert to highest level

Image source, Getty Images By Paul Kirby , Europe digital editor , Laura Gozzi  and  Bethany Bell , In Leipzig Published 25 June 2026, 13:22 BST Updated 35 minutes ago Heatwave conditions that have left Spain, France and the UK sweltering for days are set to shift to the east, with forecasters in Germany and the Czech Republic warning of extreme conditions. Temperatures in Germany could hit 40C in some western and south-western areas on Thursday, and across the country on Friday. An extreme weather warning is now in place in much of the Czech Republic. In France, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has announced that the health alert level is being raised to its highest, to boost hospital staffing and protect the vulnerable. Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said they were now seeing deaths among young people linked to the extreme temperatures, as well as the elderly. United Nations climate change chief Simon Stiell has said "Europe's savage heatwave has the fingerprints of the climate crisis all over it", and he has called for "a faster shift to renewables, protecting forests and boosting climate resilience". After France recorded its hottest day on Wednesday for the second day in a row, records continue to be broken. Météo-France said the average minimum temperature reached 22C on Wednesday night. Nantes saw 27.2C in the north-west. Image source, European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-3 imagery Image caption, This Sentinel-3 satellite image shows land surface temperatures across France on Tuesday Paris mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said the mortality rate was on the rise in Paris, where temperatures have been high for several days. "We must not believe ourselves to be invulnerable," he told French TV. "I am thinking especially about the youth... At about 19:30 last night... I saw 100 or so joggers on the street. Frankly, that's irresponsible." "It's fine to take a couple of days off from exercising," he added. Image source, Getty Images Image caption, The mayor of Paris asked people to put off exercise for a few days while the city is under a red alert Meanwhile, a three-year-old child has been found dead in a car in the Paris region, days after two young children were found dead in the family's car in the southern town of Carpentras. In the north-western city of Rennes, the head of the Accident and Emergency department Professor Louis Soulas linked the deaths of five or six people in their homes in the region to the extreme temperatures. Emergency services had gone to check in on them after they had failed to pick up their phones during welfare calls, said Soulas: "It's not just the very elderly; it's people aged 60 and up." Live updates: Temperatures top 33C in UK and red extreme heat warning is extended How to cope in a heatwave - according to you Published 12 hours ago Rennes saw a record 40.6C on Monday, only for that to be broken by 41C the following day. The previous record dated back to 2022. The region's intensive care units were "saturated