The heatwave that has been baking Europe for the last week is creeping eastward, but it still hit 34C (93F) late this afternoon in Nice and 33C (91F) in Monaco. And the airconditioning on the crowded 18:06 train from Monaco between the two wasn’t working. One passenger measured the temperature at 42C (108F). I watched passengers whose breathing labored. It was stifling.

As France 24 reported last week, over-taxed AC systems on older trains often cut off automatically when wagons get too hot. Sometimes that will force an operator to cancel trains on particularly exposed routes. That didn’t happen today but has often over the past week:

Unlike a shorter spike in temperatures, the current heatwave is exceptional because the extreme heat has plateaued for several days without cooling meaningfully at night — with forecasts of several days at or above 40C still to come.

And track temperatures can soar even higher, reaching 60C, causing the metal to dangerously stretch or widen, similar to the risk for power lines.

“Track buckles and dewirements are what really worry engineers,” said John Lawrence, chair of the Railway Technical Network at the UK’s Institution of Engineering and Technology.

“That brings derailment risks, and overhead lines can sag and catch on pantographs, halting train movements or forcing lengthy reroutes,” he said, referring to the roof-mounted systems that collect current from the lines.

A early evening Heatwave-in-Nice gallery below, snapped during a 15 minute walk home.

Photos from 29 June 2026.