LONDON: Temperatures fell to record lows on Tuesday as a spring heat wave continued in parts of Western Europe, prompting government warnings about threats to life. Several incidents of people drowning as they tried to cool down were recorded in Britain and France. London recorded a rare “tropical night”, defined as a night in which the temperature does not drop below 20 Celsius (68 Fahrenheit), and Britain’s Met Office weather service said temperatures could reach 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) in southern England on Tuesday. Monday was Britain’s hottest May day, when the temperature at Kew Gardens in London reached 34.8 C (94.6 F), breaking the previous record of 32.8 C (91.4 F), set in 1922 and 1944. Records also fell in France, where temperatures reached 36 degrees Celsius (97 degrees Celsius) in the country’s south-west on Monday and remained widely above 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Celsius) at night. The national weather service, Météo-France, said a “heat dome”, in which heat is trapped over a high-pressure weather front, was producing temperatures 10 degrees Celsius above normal for this time of year. As the Earth’s temperature continues to rise, unpredictable and extreme weather is becoming more frequent. Experts say unprecedented and deadly weather extremes are sometimes striking at unusual times and in unusual places and are putting more people at risk. After Britain’s long weekend that saw people flock to beaches, pools and shady parks, London commuters were forced to hunker down in subway trains without air conditioning on Tuesday. Trains to and from the busy Waterloo station were disrupted after smoke was reported on the tracks. In Scotland, firefighters worked overnight to extinguish a grass fire that sent smoke billowing from Arthur’s Seat, the rocky hill overlooking Edinburgh. The UK Health Protection Agency issued an amber health alert for large parts of the country as of Thursday, warning of potential health risks at the hottest times of the day, especially among older people. Temperatures in the UK remain moderate and many homes, schools and businesses do not have air conditioning. At least three teenagers have died by drowning in Britain’s lakes and reservoirs and a 60-year-old man has died in the sea in southwest England, officials said. French government spokeswoman Maud Bregon said at least seven deaths potentially related to the high temperatures had been reported, including five drownings and two deaths at sports competitions. The heat wave has already begun ahead of the annual summer season, when lifeguards keep an eye on bathers at popular beaches, increasing the risk. On France’s Atlantic coastline, where spectacular beaches boast powerful waves, authorities reported a surf emergency, with two people drowning on Sunday in popular resorts in the Gironde region in the southwest. The top regional administrator, Sophie Brokas, urged beachgoers to “exercise extreme caution.” The unseasonal heat extended to Spain, where weather service spokesman Rubén del Campo said, “We find ourselves in temperatures that usually appear in the middle of summer, now in the month of May”. He said temperatures in Seville reached 38 degrees Celsius (100 F) over the weekend, while temperatures across large parts of the peninsula were 5 to 10 degrees Celsius above normal. And temperatures in Rome on Tuesday were expected to reach 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 F).