Western Europe was in the grip of a deadly, record-setting heatwave on Wednesday that has killed dozens of people, closed schools, slowed trains, knocked out electricity and forced farmers to harvest grain at night.

In France, which on Tuesday recorded its hottest day since records began nearly 80 years ago, authorities sought to restore electricity to thousands of homes hit by power cuts in the northwestern region of Brittany. The recorded temperature peaked at 44.3 degrees Celsius (111.7 degrees Fahrenheit) in the southwestern town of Pissos.

Italy’s health ministry issued its highest heat alert for 16 cities, from Florence and Milan to Rome, Turin and Verona.

In Britain, on course for its hottest June day ever, the Met Office weather service issued only the second extreme-heat weather warning in history. Hundreds of schools stayed shut or closed early, as high temperatures could place even healthy people at risk.

At least 48 people have died in France from drowning as they attempted to seek respite from the crippling heat, while two young children were killed by heat in a car, authorities said.

Two elderly people died of heatstroke in Spain, which has experienced extreme temperatures since the weekend exceeding 40°C. Temperatures there were starting to ease on Wednesday.

A rare weather pattern known as an Omega block was causing the record-breaking temperatures across Europe, as high as 18 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal, according to the Reuters Climate........

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