Forty drown across France in heatwave and parts of Spain above 30C at night

France has its hottest night on record, 15 Italian cities under red heat alert and UN chief says London is ‘cooking’

Europe heatwave live – latest updates

Forty people have drowned while swimming in unsupervised areas across France in recent days, the prime minister has said, as people across the country sought respite from the record-breaking heatwave sweeping across much of Europe.

“There is a tragic scourge of drownings,” Sébastien Lecornu said on Tuesday. “The latest figures we’ve received are 40 deaths since 18 June. Most of the victims are young people.”