Patrick Butler, Richard Adams, Andrew Gregory, Amelia Hill, Steven Morris, Gwyn Topham and Matthew Weaver

With temperatures in the UK approaching record levels for June, people are being advised to avoid exercise and unnecessary travel.

So how do you even work in this heat?

We look at how various sectors of the economy are coping with unprecedented temperatures, and how working practices will have to adapt to increasingly frequent heatwaves that are predicted to be longer and more intense owing to the global climate emergency.

For example, school leaders say it is lucky the heatwave arrived after the summer GCSE and A-level exam season, just as May’s heatwave coincided with most schools being closed for half-term.

“We’re dodging a few bullets, but I’m not sure how much longer we can keep dodging,” said Jo Rowley, a deputy headteacher in Stafford..

Italy’s health ministry issued “red alerts” for 16 cities on Wednesday with major cities such as Rome, Milan, Florence and Turin affected, AP reported.

The “bollino rosso” red alert signals emergency conditions that can affect not only vulnerable people but also healthy adults.

Temperatures could reach highs of 41C in Florence and 38C in Milan, while Rome and Naples are forecast to remain below 36C.

Alex*, 37, who works in EU institutions in Brussels and is from Spain, says that while he is used to high temperatures, he has seen how other countries are struggling with insufficient infrastructure to cope with extreme heat.

He says temperatures of “38C, 39C, even 40C are not unheard of in Southern Spain in July and August”.

“I have lived in Northern Europe, and these regions are definitely not used to these temperatures,” he says.

“I think it is a big shock for the local population, and for the infrastructure too. It’s just not adapted to this heat. Air conditioning in restaurants and shops is not as common as it is in Spain, so 40C in Spain to me feels relatively manageable, also, because I think the climate is drier, whereas 40C, 42C, as we had in France, is very difficult.”

Alex was on holiday in Madrid over the weekend and drove back to Brussels with his A/C “on full power”.

“I drove through western France, and all the road informational screens recommended rest and hydration,” he says. “This level of heat is something that I think, particularly in central and southern Spain, we are more or less used to, at least in my lifetime.”

He says he did the same journey “a few years ago” in July and was able to stop off and climb the Grande Dune du Pilat in the Arcachon Bay area, south west France. This time, however, the heat was so intense that they had to wait several hours before they could make the climb.

“I remember going up there in July, and it was beautiful,” he says.

“This year I had to wait until sunset until 9.30pm because of the heat - it wasn’t safe to go there at 5pm, which was my original intention. Compared to other trips, the heat was at a different level this year.”

*Name has been changed

Over in the UK, the Liberal Democrats have called for the government to immediately open air-conditioned public buildings as “cool hubs” for vulnerable people during the heatwave, PA news agency reported.

They said gyms, leisure centres, libraries and other buildings could offer relief for those particularly at risk from the extreme heat.

The party also urged ministers to urgently prepare the country for more extreme temperatures by investing in cooling for hospitals, care homes and schools – echoing a call by the independent advisory Climate Change Committee on helping the UK adapt to global warming, PA said.

Earlier, the UK Met Office warned that a combination of extreme heat and humidity could have an impact on public health, infrastructure, power and water supplies.

Head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that Europe’s heatwave is “putting people’s health are risk.”

Here is his message this morning:

“Europe’s heatwave is closing schools and putting people’s health at risk.

The data are clear: temperatures across Europe are rising at roughly twice the global average rate, increasing the likelihood and severity of extreme heat in the future.

We cannot afford further delay. Leaders must prioritise investment in climate-resilient health systems, while also accelerating #ClimateAction and mitigating the drivers of the climate crisis.”

Europe is dealing with a debilitating heatwave, with schools closed, trains cancelled and France holding an emergency meeting after heat-related deaths.

And António Guterres, the UN chief, is urging the world to act on fossil fuels as the continent braces for record-breaking heat.

Lucy Hough speaks to Europe environment correspondent Ajit Niranjan about the extraordinary heatwave hitting the continent this week.

Meanwhile in France, the heatwave caused the country’s first major power outage of the latest bout of extreme weather, AFP reported.

A heat-related incident with a transformer left around 68,000 households on Wednesday without electricity in the northwestern Finistere department, the authorities said.

A rare red heat warning has kicked it at 9am London (10am Europe) for large parts of England and Wales, just for the second time ever, with temperatures expected to get close to 40C in some parts of the country.

The warning covers an area stretching from London to Swansea and Somerset to Birmingham, and is due to last until 9pm on Thursday, PA news agency reported.

Meteorologist are expecting that during the peak of the heatwave, the temperature could come close to the UK’s all-time high of 40.3C from July 2022.

Gulp. Stay safe everyone.

BBC weather forecaster Chris Fawkes said he expected the UK June temperature record to get “absolutely smashed”, telling the Today programme: “I think this afternoon we’re probably looking at highs reaching around 37C, maybe 38C, so by a big margin we are likely to set a new June temperature record.”

Some relief from the heatwave could start to come from the west of Europe later today, which is when Spain’s national weather service said temperatures would drop in most of the country.

By the afternoon, only parts of the Basque country in the north will still be marked red, and on Thursday no part of Spain will be rated either red or orange.

Transport bosses in the UK have urged people to avoid travelling on Wednesday and Thursday, and warned those that do to “prepare for a disrupted journey”.

National Rail warned of disruption to Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern and Thameslink services until Friday.

Avanti West Coast said it planned to run fewer services than usual between Tuesday and Thursday, and that there was “a risk of further disruption”.

And Chiltern Railways said it had axed more than half its services until Friday “to ensure the safe operation of the railway”.

Eurostar has cancelled four trains planned to run between London and Paris on Wednesday and Thursday “due to expected adverse weather”.

Europe’s record-breaking heatwave left around 68,000 households without electricity in western France on Wednesday, authorities said – the country’s first major power outage of the latest bout of extreme weather.

The outage, which involved a transformer on the electricity grid, was related to extreme temperatures, the prefecture in the coastal department of Finistere said in a statement.

Tuesday was the hottest day ever recorded in France, with an average temperature of 29.8C across the country. Similar conditions are expected until the weekend, with highs between 40C-42C and sweltering lows.

Nights look very uncomfortable, too, only dropping to 23C-28C in some parts of the country.

Europe is braced for another day of an unprecedented heatwave that has smashed records in many countries.

Italy’s health ministry has declared a red heatwave alert in 16 cities for Wednesday, including Milan and Rome, and in the UK, temperatures are expected to reach 40C in some areas.

The extreme weather is being driven by atmospheric and circulation patterns that keep hot air trapped in place for days, causing the mercury to slowly rise, with these factors exacerbated by global heating, experts say.

The UK is braced for record-breaking temperatures, with schools to close and people urged not to travel. Temperatures could hit 40C on Wednesday and Thursday in some parts of England and Wales and a red weather warning for extreme heat is in place covering an area stretching from London to Swansea and Somerset to Birmingham.

On Tuesday, France registered its hottest day on record as 40 people across the country were confirmed to have drowned while swimming in unsupervised areas over the last few days.

More than 90% of the French population is exposed to extreme heat – government data shows – with temperatures of 39C to 41C expected on Wednesday from Brittany to the Paris region, and in much of the south-west.

From Wednesday until at least Friday, central and southern Netherlands will be under a code orange for extreme heat. Anyone living in Amsterdam with a city pass may swim for free in six city outdoor pools, while the national rail company will run fewer trains on a number of routes from Wednesday due to the expected heat.

In the coming days, the heatwave is expected to extend into eastern Europe.

Poland’s weather service issued high-level heat warnings for the western part of the country from Thursday to Saturday, forecasting temperatures could break records.

Croatia’s popular Adriatic coast was also put under red alert for Friday and Saturday.

Hungary, already under a second-level heat alert, said it was raising that to the maximum level from Saturday to Tuesday as temperatures continued to rise.