The French capital's Eiffel Tower, one of the most visited tourist attractions in the world, was on Tuesday set to close early because of a severe heatwave, its operator said.

A deadly heatwave has battered France since last week, disrupting daily life as well as forcing school closures and train cancellations.

"Due to the high temperatures forecast, the Eiffel Tower will be adjusting its operations," said the operator of the monument made of latticed steel girders.

"The Eiffel Tower will exceptionally close at 4pm."

It is "very likely" that the monument will close again early on Wednesday, the operator said.

Visitors will be refunded for their tickets.

During the high season, starting in mid-June, the Eiffel Tower is open from 9am to 12.45am.

Seven million tourists pay to see the 324-metre tower each year.

As an early-summer heatwave smothered much of western Europe, workers sweated in choking heat and pupils stayed home on Tuesday.

Schools closed, outdoor events were cancelled and railways advised against travel as Britain, France, Italy and Spain issued red alerts and health warnings for much of their territory in the record-breaking heat.

France sweated through its hottest night ever recorded and reported that 40 people had drowned in the past five days.

Scientists have shown that recurring heatwaves are a clear marker of global warming, and warn they are set to become more frequent, longer and more intense, driven by humans' burning of fossil fuels.

In Barcelona, 76-year-old Jose Farre said it made it harder for him to sleep and even breathe.

"I have a heart condition, I'm diabetic and I feel it a lot," he said, after coming out in the cooler early hours to do his shopping.

A massive front of hot air from North Africa was smothering western Europe, Sebastien Leas, a forecaster at France's weather service Meteo-France, told AFP.

A cold front off Portugal was "acting like a heat pump, drawing up warm air", he said.

"At altitude, high pressure systems exert pressure on this warm air mass, and when we compress a warm air mass, we actually make it even hotter."

Nearly all of Spain was under a heat alert, with parts of the south and north of the country on the highest warning level for "extraordinary danger", national weather agency AEMET said.

Authorities urged people to take extra care of vulnerable people, drink water and avoid exertion at the hottest hours.

But some workers said they had no choice but to sweat in the sun.

Removal man Valentin Fernandez told AFP he was having a "rotten time" trucking furniture and boxes in Madrid, where the temperature reached 38 degrees Celsius.

"When the sun starts to hit you, you feel like dying. And inside the truck it's twice as bad... it's horrendous," he said, sweat soaking his shirt and running off his nose.

Italy's health ministry declared a red heatwave alert in 15 cities, including Milan and Rome.

Blackouts struck Milan and Turin because of the spike in the use of air conditioning.

The hospital service in Parma said 1,068 people had accessed its emergency services over the past three days because of the heatwave.

Dozens of schools in England said they would close early on Tuesday and remain shut for two more days.

"Most of our buildings cannot be cooled adequately and there is little shade outside," one school in southeastern Buckinghamshire said.

The UK's Met Office weather agency issued a rare red heat warning – for only the second time – for parts of central and south England on Wednesday and Thursday.

Temperatures could soar to 40 C, unprecedented for the time of the year.

The railway line connecting northeast England to London issued a "do not travel" advisory. (AFP)



Edited by Edmond Fong