Tens of thousands of households in France were left without electricity as a record-breaking heatwave gripped large parts of Europe on Wednesday, with soaring temperatures overwhelming infrastructure, triggering health warnings and prompting authorities across the continent to issue alerts as extreme weather intensified.

More than 800 schools in several parts of France were closed Monday as a record heatwave, which killed three people over the weekend, was set to intensify. Both France and Belgium…

Rail services, schools and sports events hit, with deaths of three elderly people in France partly blamed on intense heat