New Delhi, June 24 -- France recorded its hottest day ever Tuesday as an early heat wave gripped Europe, prompting the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre museum to restrict visiting hours and disrupting school and transportation schedules in multiple countries.

Punishing temperatures extended to the United Kingdom and Spain, where weather agencies issued red alerts - like France - about the risks of extreme heat for tens of millions of people.

The record of 29.8 C (85.6 F) for France's national thermal indicator - an average of temperatures measured at 30 weather stations - was only the latest in a series of never-before-registered highs heaped on Europe's largest country. The conditions were likely to persist at least until the weekend.

"Fur...