Thermometers continued to rise this Monday in Western Europe, where heat records expected in France and UK, while firefighters continue their fight against the fires in Spain and Portugal.
The heat wave is the second recorded in less than a month in Europe, in the midst of the summer tourist campaign. For scientists, the multiplication of these phenomena is a direct consequence of climate change.
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“Particularly intense heat is expected, not a typical summer heat wave,” explained François Gourand, meteorologist for Météo France, when western France is on “red alert.”
Temperatures could be between 38ºC and 40ºC in much of the country and, according to this meteorological service, “some areas of the southwest” could experience “a heat apocalypse” with up to 44ºC.
Across the English Channel, the UK is also bracing for heat records. The mercury could exceed 40ºC on Tuesday, for the first time in its history. The current record is 38.7ºC on July 25, 2019.
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“Hotter than the Sahara,” headlined The Sun tabloid on Monday. Schools in various parts of England were closed and, due to possible heat disturbances, several train companies called for no travel on Monday and Tuesday.
“We strongly advise our customers in England and Wales to travel only if absolutely essential,” Network Rail spokesman Jake Kelly told BBC Radio 4.
The British authorities decreed the highest level of alert, 4, due to the risk that even young and healthy people run. It is advisable to hydrate yourself, avoid exposing yourself to the sun and monitor vulnerable people.
The red alert, the first time that the United Kingdom Meteorological Office (Met, in English) has been forced to issue it, will also be maintained this Tuesday, while the rest of the United Kingdom territory remains in amber alert -one less than the red one- due to the high temperatures.
The British authorities have warned that London may be the hottest city in the country on Monday.
This “exceptional” heat wave may have an impact “on people and infrastructure,” the Met said.
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Deaths due to heat wave
The recommendations are not in vain. The heat wave already caused victims during its passage through Spain over the weekend, where 43.4ºC were reached in Don Benito, near Badajoz (west).
On Sunday, a 50-year-old man died of heat stroke in Torrejón de Ardoz, on the outskirts of Madrid. A day earlier, a 60-year-old cleaning worker died in the capital for the same reason, according to local authorities.
The fires triggered by the heat wave in Spain also caused the death of a shepherd in the province of Zamora (northwest), local authorities announced on Monday. The day before, a firefighter lost his life in that area.
On the Iberian Peninsula, firefighters have been fighting for days to put out dozens of fires.
In Spain, according to the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, the fire has devastated 70,000 hectares since the beginning of the year, “nearly double the average of the last decade.”
In neighboring Portugal, some 800 firefighters were still fighting four active fires in the center and north on Monday, but Civil Protection estimated that the situation was favorable thanks to a drop in temperature.
After breaking its temperature record for a month of July on Thursday, with 47ºC registered in the north, Portugal is expected to experience a cooler day this Monday, ending a heat wave of more than a week.
In France, emergency teams are also fighting the fire. Two large fires burned 14,000 hectares of vegetation in southwestern France, near Bordeaux, for a week.
“We are going to have a difficult day due to the temperatures, but also due to the change in wind direction,” warned Marc Vermeulen, director of the fire department in the area, in the tourist town of La Teste-de-Buch on Monday.
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Italy, with peaks of up to 42 degrees in the Padana Plain, Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio regions, in the north and center of the country, is experiencing its worst drought in the last 70 years.
The arrival of hot air masses from the Sahara has once again shot up the thermometers in “the hottest week of 2022” in Italy, according to meteorologists, and from which only the south of the country will be partially spared.
climate change kills
Scientists believe that the multiplication of heat waves is a direct consequence of global warming. Greenhouse gas emissions would increase in intensity, duration and frequency.
According to the European Commission, almost half of the territory of the European Union (EU) is “at risk” of drought.
Climate change kills, it kills people (…), it also kills our ecosystem
“Climate change kills, it kills people (…), it also kills our ecosystem,” said the president of the Spanish government, during a visit to an area affected by fires in Extremadura (west).
For Gourand, from Météo France, the issue of climate change “is advancing in society” due to the intensification of these phenomena. “People are becoming more aware… The time has come to take political action,” she added.
The British government was accused on Sunday of ignoring the situation, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson walked out of a crisis meeting and his Justice Minister Dominic Raab seemed pleased that the mercury could rise above 40C for the first time.
*With information from AFP and Efe
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