It was found that two people were killed on Tuesday by firefighters working on the flames in Spain’s Catalonia region as Europe withstands charred temperatures during the ongoing heat wave.
In a statement, Catalan authorities said the bodies were found after firefighters put out the fire in the Torrefetta area near the town of Cosco.
French media said a 10-year-old American tourist visiting the Palace of Versailles died after he fell ill.
Previously, the country’s ecological transition minister said two fever-related deaths had been recorded in France, with more than 300 people being treated by firefighters on Tuesday.
The European continent is experiencing extremely high temperatures. This is a phenomenon the United Nations Climate Authority stated that it is becoming more frequent due to “human-induced climate change.”
As reported by French broadcaster TF1, a 10-year-old child collapsed in the courtyard of a royal estate before his parents around local time on Tuesday. Despite efforts by the castle’s security team and emergency services, she was declared dead an hour later.
For Spain and the UK, June marked the hottest June of June since the record began. Spanish weather service AEMET said the average temperature last month was 23.6C (74.5F) “crushed record,” surpassing the usual averages in July and August.
Firefighters worked in Catalonia Tuesday night, according to area firefighters.
In a statement Wednesday, firefighters said their efforts were focused on establishing boundaries, extinguishing fires in buildings and excluding further casualties.
As of 22:37 local time on Tuesday (21:37 BST), Catalonian emergency services were working around 40km (25 miles) long around 6,500 hectares.
Spanish media reports show that the two killed in the Cosco fire were farm and workers’ owners. The pair were 32 and 45 years old.
Firefighters said they discovered that two bodies were “lifeless” as they tackled the flames. Catalonian regional president Salvador Ira said he will visit the area.
Spain’s forecast AEMET predicts a high of 41C will be seen in Cordoba, a southern Spanish city, on Wednesday.
French Minister of Ecological Transition, Agnaise Pannier Ranker, said the deaths of the two in her country were the result of “a fever-related illness.”
It comes when France registered its second hottest June in June since the records began in 1900. June 2025 is the trail behind June 2023, when we experienced intense heat in June 2023.
The four French divisions remain at red warning levels for the highest level of heat. These include Orbs, Cher, Roylett and Yong, according to the national weather department Meteor France.
Forecasters have predicted several storms in parts of eastern France, with a high of 37C for the Mets in the northeast.
In Italy, a 75-year-old man in Budonis, Sardinia, died of extreme heat sickness. Another man, 60, got sick on the beach at Loupostu, San Teodoro. Emergency services tried to save both men without success.
Temperatures in the area have recently exceeded 40c.
In the Mediterranean country, two construction workers from Tetze sur Brenta in Vikunza were also rushed to the hospital at 15:30 local time on Tuesday after becoming ill as a result of the heat while working in the hole.
One of the workers is coma, according to a report by the Italian news agency ANSA. ANSA reports he was resuscitation, intubated and taken to Sambaciano Hospital by helicopter.
Dimple Rana, Heat and Microclime Specialist at Sustainable Development Consultancy Arup, told the BBC there was “a great link between fever-related effects and age.”
In the UK, for example, most fever-related deaths were among older adults, Lana said. Younger children, especially children under the age of five, were also at risk.
Another factor to consider is that low-income people often do more manual work, Rana means they are exposed to higher temperatures.
According to Italian media, the intense heat on Tuesday led to a blackout in Florence city centre due to peak consumption from air conditioners and several underground electrical cables.
The blackout on Tuesday afternoon meant that homes, hotels and shops weren’t strong. The ATM also lacked shop action or alarm systems, and other business facilities were deactivated.
In Bergamo, overheating of underground cables also caused power outages in half of the city. On one side, towards Della Liberta Square, the lights were on, allowing people to gather outside, while the other towards Sentierone, the electricity was the front of the dark shop, meaning little or no nightlife.
The blackout in Bergamo on Tuesday lasted several hours, with no power between 16:00 and 22:46 local time.
According to the UN Intergovernmental Commission on Climate Change, human-caused climate change has made heat waves more common.
He said as the planet continues to warm, extreme heat will occur more frequently and even more intense.
Rana, a heat and microclimate expert, said efforts need to be made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, for example, by using more clean energy, but it needs to be adapted.
The World Weather Organization (WMO), the United Nations weather and climate agency, said on Tuesday that human-induced climate change means “the extreme fever is becoming more frequent and more intense.”
In a statement, WMO added:
“This is a place where the urban environment is much warmer than the surrounding rural areas, especially during hot weather, due to the large number of paved surfaces, buildings, vehicles and heat sources.”
“This additional fever in cities can exacerbate heat stress and increase mortality rates during hot periods,” the agency said.
