Russian gas to Europe falls short as heatwave drives demand

LONDON (Reuters) -Russian gas flows to Europe fell short of demand on Friday, coinciding with an early heatwave gripping its south and boosting benchmark prices already lifted by concerns the continent may struggle to build up storage in time for winter. Italy and Slovakia reported receiving less than half of the usual volumes through the Nordstream 1 pipeline, which crosses the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany and accounts for around 40% of Russian pipeline flows to the European Union. France said it had received no Russian gas from Germany since June 15.