PARIS (AP) — Schools are dousing kids with water and nursing homes are equipping the elderly with hydration sensors as France and other nations battle a record-setting heat wave baking much of Europe.

Several people have died around the continent in incidents that authorities are linking to the exceptional weather. A major wildfire raged Friday in Spain, sparked when a pile of chicken dung spontaneously combusted in the heat.

Several countries have reported record temperatures this week, and France hit its all-time heat record Friday: 45.1 C (113 F) in the small southern town of Villevieille, according to French media.

The French national weather service activated its highest-level heat danger alert for the first time, putting four regions around Marseille and Montpellier in the south of the country under special watch Friday.

Those schools that stayed open worked to keep kids cool. Teachers at the Victor Hugo Primary School in Colombes near Paris abandoned suffocating classrooms and are keeping children outside all day, spraying them with water and organizing quiet activities in the shade.

“I make them go in the playground with books, in the shade, they must stay seated,” said teacher Valerie Prevost. “We tell them to dampen their caps, to drink regularly.”

About 4,000 schools closed because they couldn’t ensure safe conditions, and local authorities canceled many end-of-school-year carnivals.

Some criticized the government for going overboard, but Prime Minister Edouard Philippe defended the efforts after 15,000 people died in a heat wave in 2003 that woke France up to the risks.

“This heat wave is exceptional by its intensity and its earliness,” he told reporters.

“Measures have been taken for the most vulnerable people,” he said “But given the intensity of the heat wave, it’s the entire population who must be careful today … both for oneself and for loved ones and neighbors.”

Italy put 16 cities under alerts for high temperatures, and civil security services distributed water to tourists visiting famed sites around Rome under a scorching sun.

Heat was blamed for the deaths of two people in Spain, private news agency Europa Press reported Friday.

An 80-year-old man collapsed and died in the street in Valladolid, in northwest Spain, the agency said, and a 17-year-old boy died in the southern city of Cordoba after diving into a swimming pool and losing consciousness.

Four people have drowned so far in France this week, and a 12-year-old girl drowned in a river near Manchester, England. France’s health minister and British police warned people to swim only in authorized areas.

France has also seen an uptick in so-called street-pooling, or illegally opening fire hydrants. A 6-year-old child is in life-threatening condition after being hit by water shooting from a cracked-open fire hydrant in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, broadcaster France-Info reported.

More than 600 firefighters and six water-dropping aircraft were battling the worst fire in two decades in the Catalonia region Friday, as Spain is forecast to endure the peak of its heat wave, with temperatures expected to exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

In Berlin, a police unit turned water cannons — usually used against rioters — on city trees, to cool them down.

Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Danica Kirka in London and Catherine Gaschka in Colombes, France, contributed.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> Paris – Schools are dousing kids with water and nursing homes are equipping the elderly with hydration sensors as France and other nations battle a record-setting heat wave baking much of Europe.

Several people have died around the continent in incidents that authorities are linking to the exceptional weather. A major wildfire raged Friday in Spain, sparked when a pile of chicken dung spontaneously combusted in the heat.

Several countries have reported record temperatures this week, and France hit its all-time heat record Friday: 111 degrees in the southern town of Carpentras, according to French media.

The French national weather service activated its highest-level heat danger alert for the first time, putting four regions around Marseille and Montpellier in the south of the country under special watch Friday.

Those schools that stayed open worked to keep kids cool. Teachers at the Victor Hugo Primary School in Colombes near Paris abandoned suffocating classrooms and are keeping children outside all day, spraying them with water and organizing quiet activities in the shade.

“I make them go in the playground with books, in the shade, they must stay seated,” said teacher Valerie Prevost. “We tell them to dampen their caps, to drink regularly.”

About 4,000 schools closed because they couldn’t ensure safe conditions, and local authorities canceled many end-of-school-year carnivals.

Some criticized the government for going overboard, but Prime Minister Edouard Philippe defended the efforts after 15,000 people died in a heat wave in 2003 that woke France up to the risks.

“This heat wave is exceptional by its intensity and its earliness,” he told reporters.

“Measures have been taken for the most vulnerable people,” he said “But given the intensity of the heat wave, it’s the entire population who must be careful today … both for oneself and for loved ones and neighbors.”

Italy put 16 cities under alerts for high temperatures, and civil security services distributed water to tourists visiting famed sites around Rome under a scorching sun.

Heat was blamed for the deaths of two people in Spain, private news agency Europa Press reported Friday.

An 80-year-old man collapsed and died in the street in Valladolid, in northwest Spain, the agency said, and a 17-year-old boy died in the southern city of Cordoba after diving into a swimming pool and losing consciousness.

Four people have drowned so far in France this week, and a 12-year-old girl drowned in a river near Manchester, England. France’s health minister and British police warned people to swim only in authorized areas.

France has also seen an uptick in so-called street-pooling, or illegally opening fire hydrants. A 6-year-old child is in life-threatening condition after being hit by water shooting from a cracked-open fire hydrant in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, broadcaster France-Info reported.

More than 600 firefighters and six water-dropping aircraft were battling the worst fire in two decades in the Catalonia region Friday, as Spain is forecast to endure the peak of its heat wave, with temperatures expected to exceed 104 Fahrenheit.

In Berlin, a police unit turned water cannons – usually used against rioters – on city trees, to cool them down.

Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Danica Kirka in London and Catherine Gaschka in Colombes, France, contributed. </s> Paris city hall estimates that about 1,000-2,000 migrants currently live in makeshift camps, which are particularly exposed to the heat.

Some criticized the government for going overboard, but Prime Minister Edouard Philippe defended the efforts after 15,000 people died in a heat wave in 2003 that woke up France to the risks.

"This heat wave is exceptional by its intensity and its earliness," he told reporters.

"Measures have been taken for the most vulnerable people," he said "But given the intensity of the heat wave, it's the entire population who must be careful today ... both for oneself and for loved ones and neighbours."

Italy put 16 cities under alerts for high temperatures, and civil security services distributed water to tourists visiting famed sites around Rome under a scorching sun. Highs Friday and through the weekend were forecast to be about 36.

Heat was blamed for the deaths of two people in Spain, private news agency Europa Press reported Friday.

An 80-year-old man collapsed and died in the street in Valladolid, in northwest Spain, the agency said, and a 17-year-old boy died in the southern city of Cordoba after diving into a swimming pool and losing consciousness. Friday's high was to be 39 and 41 Saturday in Cordoba. Temperatures are expected to stay in the high 30s next week.

Four people have drowned so far in France this week, and a 12-year-old girl drowned in a river near Manchester, England. France's health minister and British police warned people to swim only in authorized areas.

France has also seen an uptick in so-called street-pooling, or illegally opening fire hydrants. A six-year-old child is in life-threatening condition after being hit by water shooting from a cracked-open fire hydrant in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, broadcaster France-Info reported.

More than 200 firefighters dealt with dozens of fires in the Gard region, in southeastern France, and a highway was closed for safety reasons.

More than 600 firefighters and six water-dropping aircraft were battling the worst fire in two decades in the Catalonia region Friday, as Spain is forecast to endure the peak of its heat wave, with temperatures expected to exceed 40 C.

In Berlin, a police unit turned water cannons — usually used against rioters — on city trees, to cool them down. Temperatures there were forecast to hit 38 Sunday before dropping next week.

The World Meteorological Organization said Friday that temperature records for this time of year have been broken in Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland and Austria.

Speaking in Geneva, WMO spokesperson Clare Nullis said Earth is set to experience its five warmest years on record from 2015-2019. The WMO says that increasing greenhouse gas concentrations will fuel global heat and climate change.

"It's hitting the poorest and most vulnerable but it will ultimately hit everybody," Nullis said.

In Paris, near the presidential palace, about 100 students organized a street protest to urge authorities to take immediate action on climate change.

French President Emmanuel Macron presents himself as a champion of fighting climate change, but environmental organizations say that France doesn't do enough to limit the impact of global warming.

The heat wave is caused by warm air rising across Europe from North Africa. </s> A 17-year-old died in the early hours of this morning in hospital in the southern city of Cordoba after suffering heat exhaustion while he worked in the countryside. Officials said he collapsed after feeling dizzy and jumping into the swimming pool at the property where he was working. The unnamed teenager, who was from the village of Castro del Rio in Cordoba province which is famed for its olive oil and furniture made from olive oil, died at 1.25am today at Cordoba’s Reina Sofia Hospital.

The regional Junta de Andalucia government said it “regretted the youngster’s death and sent its condolences to his family and friends for their loss” in a statement.

The death of an 80-year-old man in Valladolid, northern Spain, has also been blamed on the heat.

He had been walking to the dentist’s when he collapsed around 6pm yesterday/on Thursday in the city centre.

Police sources said they believed he had been wearing too many clothes for the 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 Fahrenheit) temperature at the time.

READ MORE: Spain weather forecast: Red alert issued for 7 areas as heatwave sends temperatures to 43C </s> Spain dispatched two water-bombing planes on Sunday morning to aid the Portuguese fire service on the ground, the prime minister said. (Photo: Representational/AP)

Lisbon: A huge forest fire in central Portugal killed at least 25 people and injured 20 others, most of them burning to death in their cars, the government said Sunday.

Several hundred firefighters and 160 vehicles were dispatched late Saturday to tackle the blaze, which broke out in the afternoon in the municipality of Pedrogao Grande before spreading fast across several fronts.

"Unfortunately this seems to be the greatest tragedy we have seen in recent years in terms of forest fires," the visibly moved Prime Minister Antonio Costa said.

"The number of fatalities could still rise," he said at the Civil Protection headquarters near Lisbon. "The priority now is to save those people who could still be in danger."

Portugal was sweltering under a severe heatwave Saturday, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in several regions.

Some 60 forest fires broke out across the country during the night, with around 1,700 firefighters battling to put them out. Secretary of State for the Interior Jorge Gomes said 22 people burned to death in their cars when they found themselves trapped by flames on the road between Figueiro dos Vinhos and Castanheira de Pera.

Three others died from smoke inhalation. Sixteen people were injured, including five firefighters. Two of those were seriously injured.

The flames spread "with great violence", moving out on four fronts, Gomes said. Dry thunderstorms could have been the cause of the fatal blaze, according to the prime minister.

A number of villages were affected by the main fire and evacuation procedures had been put in place for some of them, Costa added. Officials were not immediately able to comment on the extent of the damage.

Spain dispatched two water-bombing planes on Sunday morning to aid the Portuguese fire service on the ground, the prime minister said.

Costa said a period of national mourning would be announced shortly. President Marcelo Rebelo went to the Leiria region to meet families of the victims, "sharing their pain in the name of all the Portuguese people," he said.

Firefighters did "all they could" when faced with the blaze, he added. Dozens of people who fled their homes were taken in by residents of the nearby municipality of Ansiao.

"There are people who arrived saying they didn't want to die in their homes, which were surrounded by flames," Ricardo Tristao of Ansiao told reporters.

Portugal was hit by a series of fires last year which devastated more than 100,000 hectares (1,000 square kilometres) of the mainland.

Fires on the tourist island of Madeira in August killed three people, while over the course of 2016 around 40 homes were destroyed and 5,400 hectares of land burned. </s> Temperatures in France are expected to reach a record-breaking high on Friday, as Europe continues to endure a sweltering heat wave which sparked an out-of-control wildfire in Spain.

Governments warned citizens to take extra precautions, with the week-long heat wave causing a build-up of pollution and fears of an increase in emergency calls across Europe.

French meteorologists have forecast temperatures that may exceed 45 degrees Celsius on Friday, a high never seen in mainland France.

The current record was set in August 2003 in the southern region of Montpellier and Nimes, when the thermometer hit 44.1 degrees Celsius.

“To beat this record so early in the year would be exceptional,” said meteorologist Christelle Robert.

The average maximum temperature recorded Wednesday in France of 34.9 C was already a record for the month of June, said state weather forecaster Meteo France.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned that such extreme weather is likely to become more frequent as a result of global warming.

“We will need to change our set-up, our way of working, build differently,” he said, stressing a necessary “adaption of society and its habits.”

French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn on Thursday said people had to be prepared for the peak of the heat wave and expressed irritation that some appeared not to be listening to advice.

She complained about parents leaving their children in the car and joggers exercising in the midday heat.

A forest fire in Torre del Espanol in Spain’s northeastern Catalonia region raged out of control, devouring land despite the efforts of hundreds of firefighters.

Catalonia’s forest agent service said the fire likely began when an “improperly managed” pile of manure at a chicken farm self-combusted in the extreme heat.

Some 350 firefighters backed by around 230 soldiers and 15 aerial tanker aircrafts were at the scene of the blaze on Thursday.

“The situation is critical,” said fire service chief Antonio Ramos. “We haven’t seen a fire like this (in the region) in 20 years.”

With temperatures expected to reach up to 42 C on Friday, Spain has issued a “red level” warning to its population.

In the Italian city of Milan, a 72-year-old homeless man was found dead at the main train station after falling ill due to the heat wave, the local authorities said.

As Germans attempted to cool off amid scorching temperatures, at least four people died in bathing accidents in different parts of the country on Wednesday.

Some areas of the country were experiencing water shortages and some residents in the North Rhine-Westphalia state were told to only use drinking water for vital purposes or face a €1,000 ($1,137) fine.

There has been no coordinated shutdown of schools but some have closed in parts of France, while others advised parents to keep children at home.

In Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Strasbourg, authorities have banned the most-polluting cars from the roads.

Residents of the French city of Grenoble were unable to use two municipal swimming pools despite the record temperatures, due to a row sparked by use of the full-body Islamic burkini swimsuit.

Lifeguards had asked for the shutdown after Muslim women clad in burkinis had gone to swim in defiance of a municipal ban. </s> TORONTO: Deaths linked to a heat wave in Canada´s Quebec province has nearly doubled to 33 from the last count, health officials said on Thursday, as extreme weather conditions that have gripped central and eastern Canada reached their peak.

Canada´s weather department added smog warnings for certain areas of the province on Thursday, when the heat wave is forecast to end.

Eighteen of the victims were in Montreal, while the rest died in areas across southern Quebec, the officials said.

The people who died were living out of bounds and often vulnerable due to conditions such as substance abuse, chronic ailments and mental illnesses, they added.

Montreal previously raised the city´s response level to "intervention" from "alert" after a spike in heat-related calls to the government´s health information line and for ambulances.

Heat warnings were also issued for much of Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. </s> Schools are dousing kids with water and nursing homes are equipping the elderly with hydration sensors as France and other nations battle a record-setting heat wave baking much of Europe.

Several people have died around the continent in incidents that authorities are linking to the exceptional weather. A major wildfire raged Friday in Spain, sparked when a pile of chicken dung spontaneously combusted in the heat.

Several countries have reported record temperatures this week, and France hit its all-time heat record Friday: 44.3 C (111 F) in the southern town of Carpentras, according to French media.

The French national weather service activated its highest-level heat danger alert for the first time, putting four regions around Marseille and Montpellier in the south of the country under special watch Friday.

Those schools that stayed open worked to keep kids cool. Teachers at the Victor Hugo Primary School in Colombes near Paris abandoned suffocating classrooms and are keeping children outside all day, spraying them with water and organizing quiet activities in the shade.

"I make them go in the playground with books, in the shade, they must stay seated," said teacher Valerie Prevost. "We tell them to dampen their caps, to drink regularly."

About 4,000 schools closed because they couldn't ensure safe conditions, and local authorities cancelled many end-of-school-year carnivals.

Some criticized the government for going overboard, but Prime Minister Edouard Philippe defended the efforts after 15,000 people died in a heat wave in 2003 that woke France up to the risks.

"This heat wave is exceptional by its intensity and its earliness," he told reporters.

"Measures have been taken for the most vulnerable people," Philippe said. "But given the intensity of the heat wave, it's the entire population who must be careful today ... both for oneself and for loved ones and neighbours."

Italy put 16 cities under alerts for high temperatures, and civil security services distributed water to tourists visiting famed sites around Rome under a scorching sun.

Four people have drowned so far in France this week, and a 12-year-old girl drowned in a river near Manchester, England. France's health minister and British police warned people to swim only in authorized areas.

France has also seen an uptick in so-called street-pooling, or illegally opening fire hydrants. A six-year-old child is in life-threatening condition after being hit by water shooting from a cracked-open fire hydrant in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, broadcaster France-Info reported.

Heat was blamed for the deaths of two people in Spain, private news agency Europa Press reported Friday. An 80-year-old man collapsed and died in the street in Valladolid, in northwest Spain, the agency said, and a 17-year-old boy died in the southern city of Cordoba after diving into a swimming pool and losing consciousness.

Firefighters and aircraft battled for a third straight day to contain a major wildfire that started in a pile of chicken dung in northeastern Spain.

Authorities said more than 700 firefighters, eight helicopters and six water-dropping aircraft aimed to slow the fire's progress until nightfall, when cooler temperatures might give them an advantage.

A stiff breeze was driving the flames in the direction of Lleida, 30 kilometres away, though officials said the city wasn't considered to be under threat.

Temperatures in the area of the fire reached 41 C as parts of Europe recorded their hottest June temperatures in recent memory due to hot air moving north from Africa.

Temperatures were forecast to drop from Saturday.

Authorities said the fire is the Catalonia region's worst fire in two decades and 20,000 hectares of hilly terrain are at risk. By Friday, an estimated 6,000 hectares had burned. </s> TORONTO (Reuters) - Deaths linked to a heat wave in Canada’s Quebec province has nearly doubled to 33 from the last count, health officials said on Thursday, as extreme weather conditions that have gripped central and eastern Canada reached their peak.

Canada’s weather department added smog warnings for certain areas of the province on Thursday, when the heat wave is forecast to end.

Eighteen of the victims were in Montreal, while the rest died in areas across southern Quebec, the officials said. The people who died were living out of bounds and often vulnerable due to conditions such as substance abuse, chronic ailments and mental illnesses, they added.

Montreal previously raised the city’s response level to “intervention” from “alert” after a spike in heat-related calls to the government’s health information line and for ambulances.

Heat warnings were also issued for much of Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
A heat wave in Spain kills nine people.