The Eiffel Tower was forced to close and 68,000 households were left without electricity in France as a record-breaking heatwave swept across most of western Europe.
Health authorities said at least 40 people died from drowning in France as the country experienced its hottest day since records began on Tuesday, with an average temperature of 29.8C.
The extreme heat is also affecting Spain and the UK, where record-breaking temperatures of 40C are expected in London on Wednesday.
Authorities in the coastal region of Finistere in Brittany said that 68,000 households were left without electricity due to an incident involving a transformer, adding it was “accidental and linked to the high temperatures currently being experienced”.
The transformers are linked to a power grid near the regional capital Quimper, according to Le Parisien, where temperatures hit around 39-40C.
No one has been injured in the incident.
The latest figures show that at least 174 people have died across Europe as a result of the extreme weather since May, with 101 dead in Spain last month, 58 dead in France and at least 15 people who have also died in the UK.
On Tuesday, France recorded its hottest day ever with temperatures in Pissos in the southwest reaching 44.3C.
Weather agency Meteo France has said the conditions are comparable to a heatwave in August 2003 that lasted 16 days and caused an estimated 80,000 excess deaths across Europe.
National monuments, including the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre in Paris, were forced to shut early to battle the sweltering heat.
Two children in Carpentras, southeast France, died in the heat after being found by their mother in the family car outside their home on Monday.
French authorities banned alcohol consumption during the annual Fête de la Musique, a countrywide music festival, to “allow medical staff to focus on caring for the most vulnerable”.
The heatwave comes after the World Health Organisation’s European office said that more than 200,000 people have died across Europe from heat-related causes over the last four years.
Three elderly people, aged between 80 and 95, died over the weekend in the Bordeaux region as a result of health issues caused by the extreme heat, local government official Sophie Brocas told France TV late on Sunday.
The heat has also led to the cancellation of several events across France and Spain, including a World Cup fan zone event organised by the country’s Football Federation in Madrid.
Meanwhile, experts have warned about the growing threat of flesh-eating bacteria across Europe’s beaches as a result of climate change.
Vibrio, a climate-driven flesh-eating bacterium, has already led to the closure of several Spanish beaches, according to Euronews.
The waterborne microorganism lives in marine and brackish waters, particularly where the rivers meet the sea, and the aquatic bacteria can also be found in seafood. Some strains can cause gastroenteritis, as well as severe and fatal infections in some cases.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has warned that there is an “increased risk of Vibrio infections throughout the summer season”, especially during heatwaves.
Warmer water is said to create a hotbed for the bacterium, with rising temperatures and extreme weather multiplying the areas at risk.
