A record-breaking heatwave sweeping across Europe has been linked to at least 212 deaths in Spain over four days, whilst France has experienced its hottest night since measurements began nearly 80 years ago, authorities said on Thursday.

The extreme weather has also claimed the lives of three children found dead in cars in France this week, including a three year old boy discovered outside his parents’ home in Saint-Gratien, a suburb north of Paris, a police source confirmed on Thursday.

Spain’s MoMo monitoring system, which compiles daily death statistics and compares them with levels expected based on historical records, registered the 212 heat-related deaths between Sunday and Wednesday. The system incorporates weather data from the national weather agency AEMET to assess likely causes of mortality spikes.

The same four-day period in 2025 saw an excess mortality of 98 deaths during what was the hottest summer on record in Spain, a country on the front line of climate change.

Between 16 May and 30 September last year, heat-related deaths in Spain reached 3 832, an 87.6% increase from the same period in 2024, according to MoMo data.

Mainland Spain this week recorded its highest daily average temperatures in June since at least 1950, with Monday reaching 28.08°C followed by 28.17°C on Tuesday.

Those two days also marked the highest average minimum temperatures for June since 1950, with 20.14°C recorded on Monday and 19.81°C on Tuesday. These so-called tropical nights make sleep challenging and can threaten public health.

The weather sparked the highest alert in parts of northern Spain including Cantabria and the Basque Country, regions usually spared the harshest heat but where temperatures soared past 40°C. Most weather alerts had been lifted by Thursday, with the lowest yellow level remaining in force in the north.

Temperatures in the capital Paris, reached 40.3°C on Wednesday, topping 40°C for the fourth time in 150 years.

The country broke its hottest night record twice this week. From Wednesday to Thursday, the national temperature indicator averaged 22°C overnight, Meteo France said, citing provisional data. This surpassed the previous record of 21.6°C measured from Monday to Tuesday.

Paris mayor Emmanuel Gregoire reported on Thursday that deaths were on the rise in the capital, though he did not provide a specific figure.

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