Europe heatwave: UK breaks June temperature record

Europe heatwave: UK breaks June temperature record

The UK today broke its June temperature record as a heatwave continues to engulf Europe. In Finistere in north-west France, 68, 000 people are without power, after the heat knocked out generating equipment We hear how the heat is affecting people across Europe - and how it compares with the most recent major heatwave in August 2003. Also on the programme: US officials say America has supplied doses of an experimental antibody to help fight the growing outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and why astronomers are excited about new images of the Milky Way. (Photo: A young man jumps from a bridge to cool off in the Canal Saint-Martin, in Paris, France, 20 June 2026. Credit: Yoan Valat/EPA/Shutterstock)

Ukraine hits energy facilities in Crimea

Ukraine has been intensifying attacks across Crimea as it attempts to cut off the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014. The authorities have been forced to suspend fuel sales to the public. Also on the programme: hundreds of schools in the UK are closed as temperatures in Western Europe hit new highs; and why sperm whales use different dialects depending on where they swim in the Mediterranean Sea. (Photo: A satellite image shows burning oil storage tanks and smoke rising from the Crimea Bridge amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict Credit: Vantor/Reuters)

Europe heatwave: Drowning deaths soar in France

A searing heatwave in western Europe is continuing to break records, with France registering its hottest-ever average daily temperature. Forty people have drowned in heatwave-related deaths there since Thursday, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has said. Also on the programme: Afghanistan’s Taliban government says a delegation has met European Union officials in Brussels, to discuss migration; and the Reflecting Pool in Washington DC is set to be drained as US President Donald Trump again blamed vandals for bright green algae and peeling paint that has appeared just weeks after a multi-million-dollar renovation. (Photo: France's sports minister Marina Ferrari warned that too many people were heading for reservoirs and rivers without taking the risks into account. Credit: Getty)

Record high temperatures across Western Europe

Schools have closed in France. A nuclear power plant near Toulouse has been forced to switch off a reactor. Nuclear power plants cannot operate correctly without enough water of the right temperature to cool down reactors. When these temperatures climb too high, the reactors need to be shut down to avoid environmental damage caused by hot water being discharged into local water courses. Also on the programme: the newly discovered manuscript containing composition lessons by Mozart; and the continuing woes of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington DC. (Photo: Young people cool off in the Fontaine de l'Observatoire fountain as temperatures rise in Paris Credit: Reuters/Abdul Saboor)

Favourite to replace Starmer as British PM sworn in to Parliament

As British Prime Ministerial hopeful Andy Burnham is sworn in as a Member of Parliament, we ask one of his supporters in the government when she decided Keir Starmer should go. Also in the programme: Former Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan dies aged 100; and we hear about the "ballista spider" that sets an elasticated trap is discovered in the Australian rainforest. Photo: Andy Burnham is sworn in as a Member of Parliament in London, UK. Credit: HOUSE OF COMMONS HANDOUT/EPA/Shutterstock