Europe’s heatwave has crashed much of the air cooling system in the Berlaymont headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels.

As trains are cancelled, schools closed and employees sent to ‘work from home’, the EU’s executive has shown the same inability of much of Europe’s infrastructure in coping with adverse climate conditions.

“Special Message. BERL – Due to extreme weather conditions, forced shutdown of air cooling system from floor 1 to 7 for the rest of the day,” said an internal security message on Friday afternoon.

Just south of Brussels, the heatwave led to the cancellation of this weekend’s reenactment of Napoleon’s defeat at the battle of Waterloo as temperatures across Belgium neared record highs.

At least 150 million people in Europe are expected to experience temperatures above 35C on Friday, according to an analysis by AFP.

(bw, at, vc)