Europe sweats through new heatwave, with worse to come

France banned alcohol in red-alert areas Sunday, Spain and Germany cancelled or postponed sports events and Britain warned of “tropical nights” as Europe sweltered through a heatwave threatening to break June temperature records.

Less than a month after a May heatwave that set records in several European countries, the continent is facing a new bout of extreme weather, with temperatures set to rise even further in coming days.

Scientists have shown that recurring heatwaves are a clear marker of global warming, primarily caused by burning coal, oil and gas — and warn they are set to become more frequent, longer and more intense.

Here is a roundup of the impacts as the latest heatwave starts in Europe.

France

France went ahead with its annual street music festival, the Fête de la Musique, despite the heat, but the Louvre museum in Paris scrapped a free concert under its famous glass pyramid.

But the government announced a ban on alcohol consumption in public places during the festivities in departments under red alert on both health and public order grounds.

In some parts of the country, temperatures had already passed the 40-degree mark, with 42.2 degrees recorded in Pissos, in the southwest Landes region.

Authorities placed a record 35 departments — roughly a third of the country — on red alert. That will rise Monday to 49 of France’s 96 mainland departments, or half the country, the national weather service said.

In Paris, city officials authorised swimming in the Canal Saint-Martin, so residents could cool off.

Germany

Organisers suspended the final of the Berlin Open tennis tournament and cleared everyone out of the event location because of severe thunderstorms. The match finally resumed six hours later.

The mercury in the German capital topped 30 °C across the weekend, with storms sweeping across much of the region on Sunday.

Read also: From birds to fish, how extreme heat causes wildlife to suffer

Belgium

Temperatures in Belgium — already past 30 degrees on Sunday — are expected to be “the hottest ever recorded” there next week, warned David Dehenauw, head of forecasting at the IRM meteorological institute.

The national rail company SNCB announced that some rush hour trains had been cancelled for Monday and Tuesday to reduce the risk of breakdowns blocking the tracks.

Spain

In Spain, the public screening in Madrid of the national football team’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia was cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the capital, officials said.

Spain declared its first official heatwave of the year from Sunday through Wednesday, with temperatures forecast to reach 44 °C in some areas.

In Spain and neighbouring Portugal, people swarmed beaches in giant crowds, braved the streets clutching hand-held fans or used umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun as the weekend turned scorchingly hot.

Switzerland

The Swiss weather service warned of a “strong heatwave” bringing temperatures of up to 37 °C, with alerts in lower-altitude regions, and said it was unclear when it would end.

Balkans

Orange weather alerts for high temperatures were predicted for parts of Croatia and Serbia in the coming days, with temperatures reaching 35 °C.

Croatian authorities issued health recommendations for coping with extreme heat, while North Macedonia, Bosnia and Montenegro also braced for extreme temperatures.

Britain

Britain’s weather service issued amber warnings for extreme heat from Monday to Thursday, with temperatures expected to reach 38 °C in England and Wales in the coming days.

“Overnight temperatures will also be very high, with widespread Tropical Nights, where the temperature does not drop below 20 °C, across southern parts of England,” the Met Office said.

Liz Bentley, chief executive of the Royal Meteorological Society, said this week will bring “an unprecedented heatwave with temperatures likely to reach 38-39 °C”, surpassing the June temperature record of 35.6 °C.

“This will lead to two consecutive months, May and June, in which the UK temperature records have been annihilated by well over 2 °C,” Bentley said.

“We are looking at an intense and record-breaking spell of heat with widespread impacts on public health, infrastructure and essential services,” said Akshay Deoras, a research scientist at the meteorology department in Britain’s University of Reading.

burs-jj/hol/cms

© Agence France-Presse

Article Source:
Press Release/Material by AFP
Featured image credit: Sushil Nash | Unsplash