France heatwave’s first major outage leaves 68,000 homes without power

Europe braced Wednesday for another day of an unprecedented heatwave that has smashed records in many countries and in a continent unused and ill-equipped to handle searing heat.

France's national temperature indicator — an average of daytime and nighttime temperatures across 30 stations — reached 29.8C on Tuesday, the hottest since measurements began in 1947.

Large parts of Europe are struggling under an intense heatwave that has pushed temperatures to exceptional levels, triggered health warnings and disrupted daily life across several countries.

A record-breaking European heat wave has caused a major power outage in France, as several countries issue red alerts across large swaths of their territory.