Paris, France: A deadly European heatwave that has saturated hospitals as temperatures soared to record highs was to shift east on Friday, with authorities warning of more misery on a continent not used to stretches of punishing heat.
Scientists said in a study released Friday that climate change was "unequivocally" responsible for the heat that broke records in Britain, France, Spain and Switzerland, while the Netherlands issued its first-ever red alert over heat.
With French hospitals overwhelmed, authorities took the rarely used step of banning evening alcohol sales and public consumption in Paris starting on Friday and into the weekend.
As temperatures were expected to ease in western Europe from Friday, eastern Europe was on red alert, with the mercury set to climb.
In Germany, where temperatures were expected to hit 40C through the weekend, several outdoor events were cancelled and the rail operator advised avoiding travel.
French and British health services reported a surge in emergency calls and visits as the merciless heat struck the elderly and the ill.
"We are reaching a saturation point in hospital facilities," Paris police chief Patrice Faure said. "The number of hospitalisations keeps increasing."
France saw a fourfold increase in emergency room visits for heat-related reasons and a surge of cardiac arrests, authorities said.
London Ambulance Service said the extreme heat on Wednesday had led to the highest number of life-threatening emergency calls in a day.
At least 101 million Europeans have roasted for several days in temperatures of over 35C, with an estimated few hundred people, including children, thought to have died as a result, many drowning as they sought respite from the inferno.
