France is melting, and literally so. 35 regions are on red alert - the highest level of warning - and the heat is hitting roughly three-quarters of the population. Temperatures are climbing to 41 degrees, trains are being cancelled, schools are closing, and in the land of wine even alcohol has been banned.

It's that ban that says the most about how serious this is. During the traditional "Fête de la Musique" music festival, which last year drew around two million people in Paris alone, authorities ordered no alcohol be served at state events. The reason is practical, not moral: "to ease the burden on emergency and health services so medical staff can focus on the most vulnerable," the authorities said. When a country takes your drink away at its biggest summer festival, you know it's getting serious.

Parks and gardens in Paris are staying open all night so people can find a little cool air, and meteorologists admit they don't know how long the heatwave will last. The uncertainty is almost worse than the heat itself - you can't prepare for something nobody can see the end of.

And while France declares a state of emergency over 41 degrees, in the Balkans a summer with such temperatures is slowly becoming the normal that no one declares anything about. We have no red alerts, no parks open at night, no alcohol bans - just advice to drink water and avoid the midday sun. The question isn't whether such heat will reach us too, but whether we're ready for it at all when even France, with all its resources, can barely breathe.