Europe's Heatwave Leads to at Least 8 Deaths, Forest Fires, Health Alerts, and Nuclear Reactor Closure

Four people have died in Spain, two in France and two in Italy as an early summer heatwave continues to grip much of Europe. The heat has also triggered health alerts, forest fires and forced the closure of a nuclear reactor at a Swiss power plant.

Spanish officials said a wildfire in Catalonia killed two people on Tuesday and authorities reported heatwave-linked deaths also in Extremadura and Cordoba. France's energy minister reported two deaths linked to the heat, with 300 others taken to hospital. Italy issued red alerts for 18 cities, while in Germany temperatures were forecast to peak at 40 degrees Celsius in some areas, making it the hottest day of the year.

Two men over the age of 60 died in separate incidents on the beach in Sardinia from the heat. Weather forecaster Meteo France said red alerts remained in place for several areas of central France with health minister Catherine Vautrin warning the elderly were the most vulnerable. Violent storms in the French Alps late on Monday triggered mudslides, disrupting rail traffic between Paris and Milan.

Swiss utility Axpo shut down one reactor unit at the Beznau nuclear power plant and halved output at another on Tuesday because of the high temperature of river water. Spain experienced its hottest June on record this year, and France had its hottest June since 2003. Executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme Inger Andersen said the extreme heat was \"testing our resilience and putting the health and lives of millions at risk\".

Allianz Research latest report cautioned of a dent in economic activity due to the heat. British baking company Greggs PLC warned its annual profit could dip below last year's levels as the unusually hot UK temperatures discourage customers from eating out. The upper floor of the Eiffel Tower in Paris was shut to visitors on Tuesday, while the iconic Atomium in Brussels closed early on Wednesday as a precaution, its third early closure this week.

As Europe roasts, the EU on Wednesday unveiled its long-delayed target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, sticking to the objective announced last year to cut emissions by 90 per cent by 2040 in comparison to 1990 levels. The 2040 target is a key milestone towards the bloc's goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.