7 dead as France registers hottest May temperatures ever; Europe braces for harsher conditions

(Bloomberg) -- India’s dangerously torrid summer days have long been a climate warning. Now the country is increasingly dealing with sweltering nights too, as global warming and poor urban planning put millions at risk.For eight of the past 10 years, average minimum temperatures during March to May — a proxy for nighttime heat over the pre-monsoon season — have been higher than the long-term average, according to data from the India Meteorological Department. Only 2020 and 2023 bucked the trend.Earlier this month, the IMD warned this summer would again see above-normal minimum temperatures across India. That means heat will linger even when cooler weather should instead be allowing humans and power infrastructure to recover from the day’s strain, putting both at risk.“Sustained high temperatures through the night are becoming a bigger cause of heat exhaustion than the day-time heat,” said Rohit Magotra, a director at New Delhi-based think-tank Integrated Research and Action for Development, or IRADe, who advises the Indian government on heat mitigation. “Especially for people without access to adequate water and consistent, affordable cooling.”Part of the problem is a changing climate — India is one of the most vulnerable nations when it comes to the effects of rising temperatures. But hotter nights are also the consequence of so-called urban heat islands, when concrete in densely packed neighborhoods absorbs daytime solar radiation and slowly releases the trapped heat at nights, pushing the indoor temperatures above the outside readings. In the poorest areas of India’s cities, inhabitants often work outdoors by day — and now struggle to recuperate in the evening.“Climate change is driving baseline temperatures higher, but the way we build our cities is what traps that heat,” said Vishwas Chitale, team lead for climate resilience at the New Delhi-based Council on Energy, Environment and Water. “More than half of extreme heat in India cities is driven by rapid concretization and expanding road networks.”Higher heat means increased power consumption, and India has seen demand driven to repeated records, not only during the day but at night, resulting in occasional shortfalls. Add in overloaded — and sometimes poorly maintained — distribution networks, and several parts of the country have seen blackouts, from Delhi in the north to Chennai in the south.Daytime demand has been met, in part thanks to the fast expansion of solar power. But evening supplies are far more stressed, exacerbated this year by the Iran war that has hampered liquefied natural gas supplies and reduced the utilization of gas power plants.India has bought fuel on the spot market to meet peak demand — but generation has still been lower, resulting in a daily supply shortfall of as much as 5 gigawatts this season, enough to power some 3 million low-income households.Among the worst-hit states is Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous province and home to some of its hottest cities.A survey released by community social media platform LocalCircles on May 21 said 93% of homes in the state have been facing daily power outages, some for as long as eight hours.Images of people protesting blackouts in various parts of the state have circulated on social media, while political leaders across parties, including the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, have written letters to the state’s energy minister A.K. Sharma, describing hardships caused by the erratic power supply.Banda, a town in a semi-arid area of the state, has repeatedly topped the list of hottest cities in the world, its maximum daytime temperature reaching close to 48C on several occasions. The nights there have been equally harsh with minimum mercury readings consistently hovering near 35C level — well past thresholds considered perilous to human health. “During the day-time, it seems like a weather-induced curfew in Banda,” said Naseer Ahmad Siddiqui, a local activist and journalist. “After dark, public pl

Extreme heat has brought daily life in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda district almost to a halt by 10 AM each day, according to a report by Hindustan Times.In Attara town, jeweller Lakhan Gupta now begins work at 6 AM so he can complete most of his tasks before temperatures become unbearable. By 9 AM, he returns home, and within another hour, the streets outside fall deserted. Although his shop shutters remain open through the day, customers generally avoid stepping out until evening, the report said.“After 10 AM, Banda becomes deserted. At first, you see one or two people outside. Then, as the day rises, there is only silence,” Gupta says.On 27 April this year, Banda recorded 47.6°C, the highest temperature in the country that day and the district’s hottest April reading since 1951. The temperature exceeded the previous record of 47.4°C registered on 30 April 2022, and again on 25 April 2026.The district once again topped the national heat chart on Tuesday after recording 48.2°C, setting another all-time high.With temperatures remaining consistently extreme, Banda has emerged as one of India’s worst heat-hit regions, joining Rajasthan’s Churu and Jaisalmer, which have historically been associated with intense summer conditions.Experts believe the crisis is not only linked to worsening climate change but also to years of environmental degradation that weakened the region’s natural ability to regulate temperatures.Residents say the heat has drastically altered work patterns. Farmers have started cultivating fields at night under LED floodlights because daytime farming has become impossible. Contractors claim labourers are willingly giving up nearly 40% of their earnings to avoid working between 10 AM and 5 PM. Seasonal migration has also begun earlier than normal, while roadside food stalls that previously operated during afternoons now open only after sunset.“The time has come to look at this seriously. Otherwise, Banda will not remain liveable,” says Prahlad Valmiki, a resident of Bhadedu village whose wife is the local Pradhan. Valmiki said he has spent the summer fielding complaints from neighbours about heat and failing crops.Officials from the electricity department said workers at 44 substations are constantly pouring water over 1,379 transformers after several units failed during the past 45 days due to excessive heat and rising electricity demand. Power supply in the district is already stretching close to 16 hours daily.Environmental experts and local activists argue that Banda’s worsening conditions are rooted in long-term ecological decline across Bundelkhand’s fragile terrain. A study published in the Journal of Extension Systems and co-authored by Arjun P Varma from Banda Agriculture University found that Banda lost almost one-sixth of its dense forest cover between 1991-92 and 2021-22. Open forest areas also declined sharply during the same period.“The major reasons are large-scale mining and agricultural encroachment inside forest land,” Varma says. Then he adds something that does not appear in the study: “I myself work inside the office from 9.30 in the morning till evening now. I cannot go into the field.”Dinesh Saha, who heads the meteorological department at Banda Agriculture University, said mining activity has accelerated river drying and reduced groundwater recharge. He added that deforestation has weakened moisture retention, while dust released from stone-crushing units now blankets soil and vegetation.The impact is clearly visible across the Vindhyan hills. In Baberu’s Gauri Khanpur village, farmer and activist Band Gopal said official estimates suggest nearly 25% of the Vindhyan range has either disappeared or suffered severe damage. The porous sandstone structure of the hills traditionally absorbed rainwater and gradually replenished underground aquifers, but environmentalists warn that continuous blasting is destroying this natural system.The damage affecting the hills is also visible in Banda’s rivers. The