Heatwave in Europe: UK sees third hottest day ever, bushfires rage in France and Spain

Paris
CNN
–

Severe heat swept parts of Western Europe Forest fires Raging in France and Spain, drought worsening in Portugal, and the third warmest day on record in the UK on Monday.

spread the fire across The local prefecture said Monday night that 27,000 acres in France’s southwestern Gironde province, forcing 32,000 people to evacuate.

The nearby town of Cazaux recorded 42.4 degrees Celsius (108.3 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday, the highest temperature it has seen since its meteorological station first opened more than 100 years ago in 1921, according to France’s national weather service Météo France.

She added that major cities in western France, such as Nantes and Brest, also set new temperature records.

In Finistere, on the country’s Atlantic coast, the fires were first reported on Monday afternoon. Less than eight hours later, more than 700 acres of land were ravaged by fire, prompting many villages to evacuate the village.

In Spain, wildfires engulfed the central region of Castile and Leon, as well as the northern region of Galicia on Sunday, Reuters reported. The fire also forced the state railway company to suspend service between Madrid and Galicia.

More than 70,000 hectares of land have been destroyed in Spain due to fires this year, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday. “Seventy thousand hectares, to give you an idea, almost double the average of the last decade,” he said.

The country’s Carlos III Health Institute on Monday estimated the total number of deaths at more than 510 heatwave-related deaths in the country, based on statistical calculations of excess deaths.

Hundreds have also died in neighboring Portugal, where rising temperatures have exacerbated a severe drought.

On Saturday, the Portuguese Ministry of Health said that 659 elderly people, mostly elderly, had died in the previous seven days.

An elderly couple died on Monday after their vehicle overturned while escaping wildfires in northern Portugal, the country’s official RTP station reported.

In total, more than 1,100 people are believed to have died from the ongoing heat wave in southern Europe.

The heat wave is expected to explode summit early this week.

As the heat wave moves across the country, the French capital, Paris, is forecast to reach 39°C (102.2°F) on Tuesday.

In the UK – with temperatures on Monday reaching 38.1 degrees in Santon Downham in eastern England, making it the third-hottest day on record – officials warned things were likely to get worse.

Tuesday is expected to be hotter, according to Penelope Endersby, chief executive of the Met Office.

“Tomorrow we really see a chance of higher than 40 degrees and temperatures even higher,” Endersby told BBC radio on Monday.

“Maybe on top of that, 41 is not off the cards. We even have 43 seconds in the form but we hope it won’t be that high.”

In France, the heat wave is expected to move away from the western part of the country on Tuesday, heading towards the center and the eastern part instead, including Paris.

Belgium’s Royal Meteorological Institute (KMI/IRM) issued a “red” weather warning for heat in two provinces on Tuesday, forecasting temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius in the west and southwest.

“With extremely high temperatures, some actions will be necessary: ​​drink regularly, wear lighter clothes, spend the day in cooler rooms, monitor your health regularly, eat easily digestible food (and in smaller portions), and keep doors and windows closed to keep the heat out. Residents of pets and animals also need extra care.

Nearly half of Europe’s land, including the UK, is “at risk” of drought, say researchers at the European Union Commission. He said Monday.

The Joint Research Center highlighted that drought in much of Europe is “critical” because “the rainfall deficit in winter and spring… was exacerbated by early heat waves in May and June.”

According to the report, the water supply could be “at risk” in the coming months.

Speaking to CNN on Monday, Oxford University professor Myles Allen warned that such heat waves will be inevitable if humanity does not soon reduce carbon emissions.

“This is not a new normal because we are just on a trend towards higher temperatures than ever before,” Allen told CNN on Monday.

The solution, he said, is to bring about a complete change in the energy industry. He added that individual companies are unlikely to unilaterally change their business models due to fears of losing competitiveness with competitors.

“It has to be industry-wide regulation,” Allen said.