A rare red heat warning has kicked it at 9am London (10am Europe) for large parts of England. Wales, just for the second time ever, with temperatures expected to get close to 40C in some parts of the country.
The warning covers an area stretching from London to Swansea. Somerset to Birmingham, and is due to last until 9pm on Thursday, PA news agency reported.
Meteorologist are expecting that during the peak of the heatwave. t he temperature could come close to the UK’s all-time high of 40.3C from July 2022.
Gulp. Stay safe everyone.
Alex*, 37, who works in EU institutions in Brussels. is from Spain, says that while he is used to high temperatures, he has seen how other countries are struggling with insufficient infrastructure to cope with extreme heat.
He says temperatures of “38C, 39C, even 40C are not unheard of in Southern Spain in July and August”.
“I have lived in Northern Europe, and these regions are definitely not used to these temperatures,” he says.
“I think it is a big shock for the local population, and for the infrastructure too. It’s just not adapted to this heat. Air conditioning in restaurants. shops is not as common as it is in Spain, so 40C in Spain to me feels relatively manageable, also, because I think the climate is drier, whereas 40C, 42C, as we had in France, is very difficult.”
Alex was on holiday in Madrid over the weekend and drove back to Brussels with his A/C “on full power”.
“I drove through western France, and all the road informational screens recommended rest and hydration, ” he says. “This level of heat is something that I think, particularly in central. southern Spain, we are more or less used to, at least in my lifetime.”
He says he did the same journey “a few years ago” in July. was able to stop off and climb the Grande Dune du Pilat in the Arcachon Bay area, south west France. This time. however, the heat was so intense that they had to wait several hours before they could make the climb.
“I remember going up there in July, and it was beautiful,” he says.
“This year I had to wait until sunset until 9.30pm because of the heat - it wasn’t safe to go there at 5pm. which was my original intention. Compared to other trips, the heat was at a different level this year. ”
*Name has been changed
The Guardian’s Jane Clinton has been speaking to some people affected by the heatwave.
Let’s check what they’re saying.
Over in the UK. the Liberal Democrats have called for the government to immediately open air-conditioned public buildings as “cool hubs” for vulnerable people during the heatwave, PA news agency reported.
They said gyms, leisure centres, libraries. other buildings could offer relief for those particularly at risk from the extreme heat.
The party also urged ministers to urgently prepare the country for more extreme temperatures by investing in cooling for hospitals, care homes. schools – echoing a call by the independent advisory Climate Change Committee on helping the UK adapt to global warming, PA said.
Earlier, the UK Met Office warned that a combination of extreme heat. humidity could have an impact on public health, infrastructure, power and water supplies.
Head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that Europe’s heatwave is “putting people’s health are risk.”
Here is his message this morning:
“Europe’s heatwave is closing schools and putting people’s health at risk.
The data are clear: temperatures across Europe are rising at roughly twice the global average rate, increasing the likelihood. severity of extreme heat in the future.
We cannot afford further delay. Leaders must prioritise investment in climate-resilient health systems, while also accelerating #ClimateAction and mitigating the drivers of the climate crisis.”
Europe is dealing with a debilitating heatwave, with schools closed, trains cancelled. France holding an emergency meeting after heat-related deaths.
And António Guterres. the UN chief, is urging the world to act on fossil fuels as the continent braces for record-breaking heat.
Lucy Hough speaks to Europe environment correspondent Ajit Niranjan about the extraordinary heatwave hitting the continent this week.
Meanwhile in France. the heatwave caused the country’s first major power outage of the latest bout of extreme weather, AFP reported.
A heat-related incident with a transformer left around 68,000 households on Wednesday without electricity in the northwestern Finistere department. the authorities said.
A rare red heat warning has kicked it at 9am London (10am Europe) for large parts of England. Wales, just for the second time ever, with temperatures expected to get close to 40C in some parts of the country.
The warning covers an area stretching from London to Swansea. Somerset to Birmingham, and is due to last until 9pm on Thursday, PA news agency reported.
Meteorologist are expecting that during the peak of the heatwave. t he temperature could come close to the UK’s all-time high of 40.3C from July 2022.
Gulp. Stay safe everyone.
Spare a though all key workers who have no choice but have to work physically and outdoors in this weather.
Here is a postal worker from Paris (33C at the moment, but expected to get to 39C later).
And a construction worker in London (28C at 9:15am, but going up to 35C later).
The French city of Bordeaux is one of those expected to be most severely hit by extreme temperatures today.
It’s 33C there and it’s only 10am, and Météo France is expecting the temperatures of up to… 42C later today.
So here is your weather forecast for today, with some of the key European cities:
Paris 41C Bordeaux 39C Madrid 38C Frankfurt 37C Brussels 36C Rome 35C Bologna 35C London 34C Amsterdam 34C Zurich 32C Prague 32C Berlin 31C Barcelona 31C
Essentially, if you are anywhere between Lisbon (24C) and Warsaw (27C), it will be super hot.
Meteo France is showing that all of France is expected to go well above 30C this morning. with two-thirds of the country covered by a red weather alert.
It’s Jakub Krupa here, taking over from Taz Ali.
With the heatwave dominating the headlines across Europe. we will run a special edition of our daily Europe Live blog today focused just on this issue.
I will bring you all the latest here. Good morning.
The French environment minister, Monique Barbut, said the heatwave in France could continue until 14 July.
“Next week should see a relative pause,” she told the French radio channel France Inter.
“But Météo-France tells us there is a strong likelihood that. from the following week onwards, we will see a return to extreme heat, which could last until 14 July.”
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