France: Extreme heat prompts early closure of Louvre Museum in Paris.

SHOTLIST: PARIS, FRANCE (JUNE 24, 2026) 1. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AROUND LOUVRE MUSEUM, SOME USING UMBRELLAS AGAINST EXTREME HEAT 2. EARLY CLOSURE SIGN OF LOUVRE MUSEUM 3. EMPTY WAITING AREA 4. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WAITING NEAR ENTRANCE OF LOUVRE MUSEUMPARIS, FRANCE - JUNE 24, 2026: The Louvre Museum in Paris is shortening its opening hours on Wednesday, June 24, as a heatwave continues to affect France and other parts of Europe. Due to extreme temperatures, the museum will close to visitors at 4 p.m. local time instead of its usual 6 p.m. between June 24 and June 27. Around 68,000 households were left without electricity Wednesday in western France amid an ongoing heat wave. France's westernmost department of Finistere experienced a power outage late Tuesday that was linked to the extreme heat affecting the area. The prefect of Finistere said through US social media company X that 106,000 households were affected at the height of the outage. Paris announced the activation of level four of its heat wave plan, reserved for "extreme heatwave" conditions, allowing the mobilization of all municipal services and partner organizations to support residents during the hot spell. A monitoring unit bringing together city services has also been established to adapt response measures as weather conditions evolve. Cooling rooms have been opened in all district town halls during opening hours, while city officials highlighted the availability of nearly 1,400 cool spaces across the Paris metropolitan area. Parks and gardens will be open throughout the night to provide relief from the heat. Weather authorities announced that 14 additional departments will be placed under a red heat wave alert from Thursday, bringing the number affected to 72. The newly added departments are mainly located in northeastern and eastern France, including Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin, Moselle, Meurthe-et-Moselle and the Jura region. Only seven departments in mainland France will remain under lower-level yellow or orange alerts. The UFML-S doctors' union urged independent practitioners to extend or shift consultation hours to help patients avoid traveling during the hottest parts of the day. On Tuesday, the Lot-et-Garonne and Maine-et-Loire departments also experienced wildfires that burned hundreds of hectares. The fire burned 88 hectares (217 acres) before being contained, the prefect of Lot-et-Garonne said on X. The prefect of Finistere also announced stricter restrictions on fire use across 42 municipalities, including a ban on all burning of standing vegetation—except for firefighting operations—as well as campfires and cooking fires. Around 4,000 households in the southeastern Vaucluse department were also left without power, according to broadcaster BFMTV. Meanwhile, disruptions were reported at Paris Montparnasse station, with train delays piling up for both departures and arrivals.