Portugal breaks hottest May day record as heatwave grips Europe

Portugal broke its record for the hottest May day as a powerful heatwave swept across Europe on Thursday, BBC World News reported, with several countries scrambling to respond to the dangerous surge in temperatures.

In Italy, authorities issued red alerts — the highest tier of weather warning — as the extreme heat posed serious risks to public health and safety across parts of the country.

The situation was no less challenging in France, where students were sitting end-of-year examinations inside school buildings with little or no air conditioning, forced to endure sweltering conditions during one of the most important academic periods of the year.

Portugal's record-breaking temperatures underscored the breadth and intensity of the weather event, which meteorologists have described as an early and unusually severe heatwave for the month of May. The BBC did not specify the precise temperature recorded in Portugal or detail which regions of Italy were placed under red alert.