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Record heatwave disrupts Europe as France warns death toll to rise
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Europe has experienced another day of extreme heat with temperature records being broken across the continent again on Saturday.Germany set a new all-time high for the second day in a row, as temperatures reached 41.5C, according to provisional data.On Saturday, records also fell in Denmark and the Czech Republic as the unprecedented early summer heatwave moved further north and east affecting more people.An estimated 150 million people in Europe are now experiencing temperatures of over 35C. The World Meteorological Organization has warned the heatwave would have "major impacts" to health and ecosystems. The heatwave – which began in the Iberian peninsula – has been linked to the deaths of hundreds of people over the past week.Germany's preliminary record of 41.5C was set in Möckern-Drewitz in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany's Meteorological Service said.That surpassed a record of 41.3C set just a day earlier in Saarbrucken near the French border."This heat isn't pleasant summer weather. It's a health crisis," Katrin Goering-Eckardt, a German politician and former leader of the Green Party, said on X.In Berlin, police deployed two water cannons to spray mist onto people.The Czech Republic recorded its highest-ever temperature on Saturday, with a reading of 40.8C at a weather station in Doksany north of Prague, the national meteorological service (CHMI) said.And forecasters in Denmark said a provisional temperature of 37C was recorded in Odum, near Aarhus. This exceeded the previous all-time record of 36.4C set in 1976.Switzerland broke the record for its hottest-ever June day for the third day in a row on Saturday, with the mercury rising to 39C in the northern city of Basel."This exceptional heatwave has been caused by a slow-moving persistent area of high pressure, a so-called 'heat dome'", according to the BBC's lead weather presenter Ben Rich."Underneath the high pressure system sinking air compressed and warmed, lifting temperatures day by day."The skies have remained largely cloud-free, allowing strong sunshine to heat things up even more", he added.Since the heatwave began, the number of drowning deaths in France has risen to at least 55. An estimated two-thirds of them had been swimming in unsupervised areas.Spain's MoMo monitoring system has recorded 327 deaths that could be linked to the heat between Sunday and Thursday.Europe is the World's fastest-warming continent – because of a range of factors including the rapid heating of the Arctic, and changes in the pattern of the jet stream.Scientists from the World Weather Attribution say a heatwave of this magnitude so early in the summer would have been virtually impossible 50 years ago.They say climate change is "unequivocally" to blame.The extreme heat will continue over the weekend into Monday with temperatures above 40C still possible in places, says BBC weather forecaster Ben Rich.However cooler conditions developing in the west of the continent will sweep eastwards to bring some relief later in the week.
Only competitions involving professional athletes will be held, with all other activities cancelled.This weekend’s Diamond League track and field meeting in Paris will go ahead as planned despite the historic heatwave gripping the country and stretching emergency services, organisers said.Hours after Paris police authorities said they wanted the event cancelled, the French Athletics Federation (FFA) confirmed on Friday that it would take place on Sunday at Charlety Stadium, in agreement with the police prefecture.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Power outages in France as Europe bakes in record heatlist 2 of 4‘People should be very concerned’: What to know about Europe’s heatwavelist 3 of 4How to stay cool and treat heatstroke during a heatwavelist 4 of 4Thermal cameras reveal intense heat for outdoor workers in Europeend of listCiting the exceptional heat that has affected Paris since June 21, the police prefecture had asked organisers of the meet, and other events scheduled this weekend, including a music festival and a Pride march, to cancel.The prefecture said it would be forced to comply with the order if they didn’t agree voluntarily, as emergency services needed to concentrate their efforts on protecting the most vulnerable people.Noah Lyles, Femke Bol and Mondo Duplantis are among the athletes expected to compete in Paris.The FFA, which organises the meet, said it would be staged in “an adapted format designed to ensure the safety of all participants”.Only competitions involving professional athletes will be held, with all other activities cancelled.“Since the beginning of this extreme weather event, the French Athletics Federation has been closely monitoring the situation in constant coordination with government authorities. The safety of athletes, coaches, volunteers, officials, spectators and all staff involved remains our highest priority,” the FFA said.Among the measures put in place to mitigate the effects of the heat, the FFA cited delaying the opening of the stadium gates to the public, reinforcing medical and emergency services, and providing additional drinking water stations and shaded areas.The average temperature recorded at 30 weather stations by the Meteo France weather agency on Thursday reached 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) again, matching the record for the hottest day nationwide set the previous day.More than three-quarters of France has been placed under a red weather alert for the first time.
Here’s the Latest. The New York Times
Météo France said the red alert in much of France would be extended on Wednesday afternoon from 54 to 58 of the country's 96 metropolitan departments, to include several areas in the north west.The president of the Île-de-France region which covers the entire Paris area, Valérie Pécresse, urged people not to travel and to work from home instead: "The rail tracks cannot withstand temperatures above 50C. So we'll have a lot of disruption to public transport."The Eiffel Tower said it was closing early on Tuesday because of the high temperatures forecast in the capital. Instead of staying open until 00:45 at night, it said it was closing at 16:00 (14:00 GMT) and the last entry to the tower was at 12:15. Some 6.75 million people entered the monument last year.The world's most visited museum, the Louvre, said it was bringing forward its closing time from Wednesday to Saturday from 18:00 to 16:00 local time. The Louvre said its historic building "remains fragile, external and is not sufficiently adapted to climate change", adding that the "build-up of heat is at its highest at the end of the day, and intensified by the volume of visitors".The heatwave also meant a nuclear power plant in southwest France had to be shut down on Monday night because water temperatures in the River Garonne were set to reach 28C on Tuesday. Under French laws, water used to cool the reactors at the Golfech plant must not exceed that temperature.Spanish forecasters say temperatures on the Iberian peninsula will start to fall from Wednesday onwards, however they are set to peak in the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as Germany on Friday. The Dutch weather service, the KNMI, has issued a Code Orange weather alert which refers to a "high chance of dangerous weather" in southern and central areas from Wednesday to Friday.After meeting on Tuesday, Belgium's Risk Management Group said it was activating the "alert phase of the national ozone and heat plan" for only the second time. The first occasion was in August 2020, although no specific national measures have been announced, other than to raise awareness and call for extra care for the elderly and children.
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