Western Europe hit by record heat wave

Germany's weather service DWD said the high-pressure mass stretched from the central Mediterranean to Scandinavia and hung like a "bell" over Europe, pinned between two low-pressure zones — one over western Russia and the other over the eastern Atlantic.

Amid the sweltering temperatures, a Eurostar train broke down, trapping passengers. At least 600 people were stuck on the train near the Belgian town of Halle for two hours, with some of the carriages in the dark inside a tunnel and others outside in the sun.