Record heat, drought, fires: in much of Europe, extreme temperatures are causing deaths and heavy damage. Meteorologists report that the heat wave is expected to peak in these hours, but warn that the thermometer will still remain above the warning levels for several days.
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In England, for the first time in history, 40 degrees in London were exceeded. In fact, 40.2 degrees were recorded in the Heathrow area, while the first fires in the woods and in the capital’s belt also spread: phenomena not common in the British Isles.
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In France the situation is even more critical: in 64 municipalities, mainly along the Atlantic coast, the absolute record of heat has been beaten, Météo France announced, while for days several devastating fires have continued to flare up which have forced the evacuation of dozens of thousands of people, particularly in Gironde, and destroyed hundreds of hectares of woods and vegetation, with temperatures still rising, between 37 and 40 degrees in the east. Nantes, near the Atlantic coast, recorded 42 ° C yesterday, shattering the previous high of 40.3 ° C, set in 1949.
In Portugal last Thursday it reached 47 degrees, a record for July, while in Spain the current wave of fires represents the “most important” emergency of this kind in as long as there are statistics, said Leonardo Marcos, director general of the Iberian Civil Protection. There are six active flame fronts that are of most concern at the moment. One of these concerns the province of Zamora, where around 5,800 people have already been evacuated from 34 small urban centers.
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In Germany, the German meteorological service DWD predicts for the next few hours that the historic record of 41.2 degrees will be at least equaled in the areas along the Rhine river. Even in the Netherlands they recorded the hottest July day ever with 37.3 ° C in Maastricht, and temperatures are expected to continue to rise. And even further north it doesn’t get much better: the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute issued an orange warning for extremely high temperatures of around 35 degrees in northeastern Götaland and southern Svealand, the southern part of the country, for tomorrow.
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In fact, according to Meteoallarm, the official website of European national weather services, heat warnings were in effect today in at least 21 countries, from Ireland to Greece.
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WHO), temperatures on the Continent are expected to peak today, but may still remain above normal until the middle of next week. And such episodes “will be more and more frequent in the coming decades” due to climate change, on the other hand warned the secretary general of the organization, Petteri Taalas from Geneva.
Source: Ansa
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