Sweltering Europe braces for peak of record heatwave - Phys.org
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Sweltering Europe braces for peak of record
heatwave
27 June 2019, by Stuart Williams
falling ill due to the heatwave, the local authorities
said.
Ice cakes for animals
Across Europe people frolicked in fountains to stay
cool while zookeepers handed out cakes of ice
packed with fish, mango or cherries to keep the
animals cool.
French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said people
had to be prepared for the peak of the heatwave
and expressed irritation that some appeared not to
be taking the advice on board.
People refresh themselves under a mist sprayer in Lille,
northern France
Europeans braced Thursday for the expected peak
of a sweltering heatwave that has sent
temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius
(104 Fahrenheit), with schools in France closing
and wildfires in Spain spinning out of control.
Governments warned citizens to take extra
precautions, with the high temperatures also
causing a build-up of pollution, and emergency
calls to hospitals increased.
The heat has been particularly intense in northern Spain,
Exceptional for arriving so early in summer, the with temperatures set to rise above 40 degrees Celcius
heatwave will on Thursday and Friday likely send at the weekend
thermometers above 40 C in France, Spain and
Greece.
A forest fire in Torre del Espanol in Spain's "We see citizens who are quite irresponsible and
northeastern Catalonia region raged out of control, continue to go jogging between midday and 2:00
devouring land despite the efforts of hundreds of pm," she told France 2 TV.
firefighters who worked through the night.
She complained also of seeing "parents who leave
In the Italian city of Milan, a 72-year-old homeless their children in the car to do some quick shopping
man was found dead at the main train station after or leave them without a hat in the open air."
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Some four days into the heatwave, Buzyn said accidents in different parts of the country on
French authorities were seeing an increase in the Wednesday.
number of calls to emergency services and that she
was concerned there would be an influx of people And some areas of Germany are experiencing
going to hospital. water shortages and around the North Rhein
Westfalia towns of Loehne, Bad Oeynhausen,
All-time record? residents were told to only use drinking water for
vital purposes or face a 1,000 euros ($1,137) fine.
The average maximum temperature recorded
Wednesday in France of 34.9 C was already a
record for the month of June, said state weather
forecaster Meteo France.
People across the continent have been flocking to rivers
and swimming pools to seek some relief from the heat
At the Bordeaux-Pessac Zoo in southwestern France,
keepers were finding creative ways of keeping the French hotel group Accor said it would open up its
animals cool, handing out mango ice cakes and fish air-conditioned lobbies to the elderly until Saturday
to ensure their wellbeing.
There has been no coordinated shutdown of
Even higher temperatures are expected on Friday, schools but some have closed in parts of France,
where areas in the south could see peaks of 42 to while others advised parents to keep children at
44 C. home.
Meteo France said France's all-time record could Schools in Paris will stay open until the end of the
be broken—an August 12, 2003 reading of 44.1 C in week when the summer holidays will begin, city
Saint-Christol-les-Ales and Conqueyrac in the authorities said.
southern Gard region.
In the wider Paris region, authorities have shut
Germany on Wednesday saw its June temperature some primary schools including in Essonne where
record broken, with a 38.6 C reading in Coschen, around 59 educational institutions have closed.
near the Polish border, breaking a previous record
dating back to 1947. Residents of the French city of Grenoble were
unable to use two municipal swimming pools
As Germans attempted to cool off amid scorching despite the record temperatures, due to a row
temperatures, at least four people died in bathing sparked by use of the full-body Islamic burkini
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swimsuit.
A bear eats iced fruit to cool off at the Rome zoo
(Bioparco di Roma) as temperatures reach 36 degrees
Spanish firefighters were struggling to contain a blaze Celsius in the Italian capital.
that broke out in its northeastern Catalonia region
"Global temperatures are increasing due to climate
Lifeguards had asked for the shutdown after change," said Len Shaffrey, professor of climate
Muslim women clad in burkinis had gone to swim in science at the University of Reading in Britain.
defiance of a municipal ban.
"The global rise in temperatures means the
Increasing probability probability that an extreme heatwave will occur is
also increasing."
The increase in temperature has also led to a build-
up of pollution in already clogged cities, in particular © 2019 AFP
the gas ozone.
In Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Strasbourg,
authorities have banned the most-polluting cars
from the roads.
Scientists warn that global warming linked to
human fossil fuel use could make such scorchers
more frequent.
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APA citation: Sweltering Europe braces for peak of record heatwave (2019, June 27) retrieved 11 July
2019 from https://phys.org/news/2019-06-sweltering-europe-braces-peak-heatwave.html
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