Hospitals and nuclear plants are reporting operational strains and rising deaths as the heatwave reaches its peak, prompting the World Health Organization to update heat guidance and trigger urgent public health alerts.World Weather Attribution assesses this as the most intense and geographically extensive heatwave in European history, with new June temperature records in France, the UK and Switzerland and widespread wildfires that have overwhelmed fire services.Scientists say measures adopted after the 2003 heatwave have been outpaced by escalating extremes driven by greenhouse gas emissions and call for accelerated decarbonization, urban cooling investments and reduced political resistance to green energy policies.