By Sudip Kar-Gupta and Sarah Young
PARIS, June 23 (Reuters) - Forty people have drowned while swimming in unsupervised areas in France since the weekend, the prime minister said on Tuesday, as people tried to escape a heatwave sweeping across much of Europe.
Britain, Italy and Spain are also sweltering in extreme heat, with record temperatures in some regions disrupting schools and transport networks.
Europe is warming at more than twice the global average, according to the World Meteorological Organization,
making such prolonged heat episodes increasingly likely.
The current heatwave is driven by a weather pattern known as an Omega block, because it takes the shape of the Greek letter, with a bulge of hot air in the middle and cooler air either side.
Meteorologists say the system is creating a so-called heat dome, trapping hot air over western and central Europe and allowing temperatures to build day after day.
Heatwaves and storms are being intensified by climate change, pushing temperatures higher and causing more rainfall.
HEAT ALERT ACROSS FRANCE
Much of France is under severe heat alert and set to experience temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday, Meteo France said, with temperatures of up to 43C expected in some parts of western France.
Across the country, youngsters and others have been jumping into canals and rivers to cool off. French sports minister Marina Ferrari said she understood the urge to escape the heat but warned against swimming in unauthorized or dangerous areas.
Speaking ahead of an emergency meeting on the heatwave, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said there had been 40 drownings attributable to the heatwave since June 18.
On Monday, first responders were unable to resuscitate two children, aged 2 and 4, who were found unconscious by their mother in the family car outside their home, said a prosecutor in Carpentras, southeast France.
In one area of Paris, the municipality offered free cinema tickets to those under 25 or over 65, for a break in a place cooled by air conditioning.
BUSINESS ACTIVITY SLOWS
In Paris, people on their way to work were visibly suffering from the heat, many carrying fans in the metro, after often broken nights due to sweltering temperatures in apartments ill-equipped for heat. Some trains were cancelled, including between Paris and Brussels.
Business leaders said the economy was also taking a hit.
"France is running at a slow pace. Businesses, as far as possible, are implementing recommendations to protect their employees," the head of France's MEDEF employers group, Patrick Martin, told BFM TV. In several places across Paris, shops had run out of electric fans amid surging demand.
BRITAIN, ITALY, SPAIN, BELGIUM ALSO HIT BY HEATWAVE
In Italy, the health ministry has issued its highest level alert for 15 cities and the government has taken measures to suspend or reduce their work in certain sectors.
After scorching mornings, storms are expected to form over the Alps and Apennines on Tuesday afternoon, bringing gusty winds, heavy rain and occasional hail, with some spreading into northern plains later in the day, meteorologists said.
Britain is also in the grip of the heat, with the Met Office forecasting temperatures of up to 37C in southern England on Tuesday — potentially a new June record — before rising further on Wednesday and Thursday.
Dozens of schools have said they will close early, due to old buildings not being suitable for classrooms with more than 30 children in.
Spain's state meteorological agency has issued red alerts across parts of the country, warning of dangerous heat with temperatures expected to reach 44C. The warnings follow an already extreme day on Monday, including a peak above 45 C in Andujar.
Overnight conditions have offered little relief, with around 30 monitoring stations still recording temperatures above 25C early on Tuesday.
In Belgium, soaring temperatures forced a primary school in Tervuren, near Brussels, to relocate its final exams to a nearby church.
"Too hot in the classroom, then we'll do the exams in the church," the school wrote on its Instagram, posting footage of pupils taking their tests from rows of church chairs.
DISRUPTION TO TRANSPORT
Transport systems across Europe came under strain. Britain's Network Rail also warned that passengers should only take essential train journeys on Wednesday and Thursday, when temperatures are expected to peak at 39C.
Services may be disrupted or slowed as operators impose speed restrictions to protect infrastructure.
Some transport routes were disrupted overnight due to a series of intense thunderstorms in London, including at Heathrow Airport.
(Reporting by Giselada Vagnoni in Rome, Sudip Kar-Gupta in Brussels, Sarah Young in London, Emma Pinedo in Madrid, Charlotte Van Campenhout in Amsterdam; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Ros Russell)
