Paris – Europe braced for another day of an unprecedented heat wave that has smashed records in many countries and sent air conditioner sales zooming on a continent ill-equipped to handle searing heat.

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 warming, experts say.

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.

Sales of fans and air conditioners meanwhile skyrocketed in a country where most buildings are not designed to deal with extreme heat.

On Monday, hypermarket operator Carrefour had sold 30,000 units by 6:30 pm — “a thousand times more than on a normal day,” CEO Alexandre Bompard said.

Sales on Amazon nearly doubled last week compared with the same period in 2025, whilst electronics outlet Fnac Darty reported double-digit growth.

Thierry, an electrician in south-west France, said he was overwhelmed by requests for “emergency” air-conditioning installations.

“In theory, you have to submit a request to the owners’ association general meeting” in residential complexes “but people don’t want to wait.”

“It’s difficult to live” alone and without air conditioning, said Martine Belloc, a 62-year-old retiree in Bordeaux, who on Tuesday went to La ManuCo, a coworking site that mobilized to welcome elderly people.

With four more French departments being put under the highest heat alert category Wednesday, some 44 million people may be affected.

Added to the 31 departments currently on orange alert, more than 90% of the French population is exposed to extreme heat, with temperatures of 39C to 41C expected on Wednesday from Brittany to the Paris region, and in much of the south-west.

John Beeler, a 45-year-old American engineer, said he and his wife were baking in Paris.

“Visiting Paris in this heat is awful,” he said, wearing a fisherman’s hat and holding a small fan.

“We’re suffocating in the streets, we’re suffocating in the subway and we’re even suffocating in our rental,” he said, adding they would be moving to an air-conditioned hotel room.

Italy’s health ministry declared a red heat wave alert in 16 cities on Wednesday, including Milan and Rome.

In the coming days, the heat wave 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 the record of 40.2C set in 1921.

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...

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