France weather emergency: Eiffel Tower, Paris museums close early due to sweltering temperatures

France’s third major heat wave since May has forced some of Paris’s most famous tourist attractions to cut operating hours as large parts of the country remain under the highest heat alert and temperatures continue to rise.

The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay have announced early closures over the weekend due to the forecast of extreme heat in the French capital.

The operator of the Eiffel Tower said the monument would “exceptionally close” at 4pm on Saturday and Sunday due to high temperatures.

The 324-metre-high iron monument, one of the world’s most visited tourist attractions with around seven million visitors a year, normally remains open until after midnight in the high summer season.

Paris’ leading museums have also adjusted their plans to protect visitors and staff from extreme weather.

The Louvre, the world’s most visited museum, has announced that it will close at 4pm from Friday to Monday.

Meanwhile, the Musée d’Orsay announced it will close its doors from Saturday to Wednesday at 5 p.m., citing the ongoing heatwave.

The closures come as France faces its third spell of extreme heat since May, with around a quarter of mainland France under the highest red warning from the national weather service Météo-France.

Millions of people under extreme heat

France’s national weather agency Météo-France has placed 24 departments – home to more than 22 million people – under the highest red alert and another 59 departments under orange warning.

The heatwave coincides with one of the country’s busiest holiday weekends ahead of Bastille Day, leading to congested roads and rail networks.

Authorities expect temperatures to exceed 40 degrees Celsius in several regions, with the extreme weather forecast to continue into the bank holiday.

Macron urges vigilance as the threat of forest fires grows

President Emmanuel Macron warned that most of the fires were caused by human activity and urged the public to exercise caution.

“One second of inattention can endanger families, endanger those who protect us, and destroy our landscape,” he wrote on X.

Several cities have canceled Bastille Day fireworks because of the increased fire danger.

More than 8,000 fires have broken out since the start of the year, burning over 25,000 hectares, roughly double the area affected in the same period in 2025, according to France’s civil security agency.

Heat wave associated with rising death toll

French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said the June heat wave resulted in 2,025 excess deaths, while another 300 deaths were recorded during the heat wave at the end of May.

French Sports Minister Marina Ferrari also said 131 people had died from drowning since June 19, when the latest bout of extreme heat began driving people to rivers, lakes and beaches.

The government has opened cooling centers for vulnerable residents, including the elderly and the homeless, while continuing to install air conditioning units across hospitals.

So far, 6,000 of the planned 30,000 cooling units have been installed in healthcare facilities nationwide.

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Reduced nuclear power output

Prolonged heat also affected electricity production in France.

EDF cut power by 4.4 gigawatts at five nuclear reactors on Friday as high temperatures in the river limited the availability of cooling water needed to run the plant.

The Golfech 2 and Bugey 3 reactors were fully shut down, while the Saint-Alban 2 and Blayais 1 and 3 units continued to operate at reduced capacity.

EDF also warned that high temperatures in the River Seine could limit production at the 2.6 gigawatt Nogent nuclear power plant from July 14.

French environmental regulations require reactor power to be reduced when river temperatures exceed environmental safety thresholds, although EDF has stressed that the measures do not affect reactor safety.

Despite the reductions, France remained a net exporter of electricity, supplying electricity to Italy, Britain and Switzerland and temporarily importing electricity from Belgium, Germany and Spain.

(With AFP, Reuters inputs)

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