Europe wilts in sweltering heat

Droves of Europeans are jumping into fountains, lakes, rivers, and the ocean to get relief from a record-busting heat wave. On Thursday, two drug dealers called Belgian emergency officials for help when they accidentally locked themselves in a quickly overheating shipping container full of cocaine at the port in Antwerp. Railway companies advised commuters to avoid train travel because the extreme heat could cause the steel tracks to buckle under trains. And a 66-year-old woman died in Belgium, apparently while basking in the sun.

What are the records? On Thursday, a town in northern Germany set a national record of 107.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Paris hit an all-time high of 105.1, and officials are working to confirm that Britain had its highest-ever temperature of 101.7. Thursday was also Belgium’s “hottest day ever” at 104 in the shade—even hotter in a metal container.