Europe swelters under heatwave as summer wildfires rage

Europe experienced its first major heatwave of the summer on Monday, as temperatures reached a record of 46°C in south-west Spain and early summer wildfires led to evacuations in southern France.

Heat warnings have been issued in France, Spain, Italy and Portugal, with reports indicating that these are taking place earlier in the year than usual because of climate change. The maximum temperature ever recorded in Spain had previously been 45.2°C in Seville, in June 1965.

Spain's national meteorological agency Aemet has issued amber and yellow warnings across most of mainland Spain, after firefighters fought 15 wildfires on Saturday in Sicily. The heatwave is expected to be followed by storms, hail and strong winds.

Madrid residents complained there was no respite from the heat in the city. “As the years go by, I feel Madrid is getting hotter, especially in the city centre,” one resident told France 24. “It's very hot because there's very little greenery.”

Record temperatures have also hit the sea, with the Mediterranean exceeding 26°C in the Balearic Islands, a threshold “typical of mid-August", according to Aemet.

In France, some 200 schools were totally or partially closed. “It is imperative to organise alternative hosting solutions” for schoolchildren, said Education Minister Elisabeth Borne. At least 84 departments out of 92 have been placed under orange alert. The figure of 84 is “unheard of”, Minister for Ecological Transition Agnes Pannier-Runacher told AFP.

In southern France, stranded motorists were handed out water by state authorities after fires broke out in a mountainous area bordering Spain, forcing the evacuation of an abbey and a camping ground. The fires were caused by sparks coming out of a poorly adjusted trailer wheel brake, according to the office of the prefect of the department of Aude.

French Labour Minister Catherine Vautrin said that she would issue a decree on Tuesday that obliges companies to adapt employees' work schedules to the heat. “We have taken a further step to … ask companies to be more vigilant during these times of very intense heatwaves,” Ms Vautrin said.

Wildlife is are also suffering from the heat. “The temperature can exceed 40°C in some nests. We are taking in birds in difficulty everywhere. Our seven care centres are saturated,” Allain Bougrain-Dubourg, president of French conservation organisation the League for the Protection of Birds, told AFP.

Italian hospital emergency departments have reported a 10 per cent increase in heatstroke cases, said Mario Guarino, vice president of the Italian Society of Emergency Medicine. Victims are mostly “the elderly, cancer patients, and homeless people suffering from dehydration, heatstroke, and fatigue”, Mr Guarino said.

Italian cities have taken measures to offer opportunities to cool down for the most vulnerable. In Venice, guided tours in air-conditioned museums are free for those over 75 years old. “Climate shelters” have been installed in the northern city of Bologna and dehumidifiers have been distributed in Ancona, on the Adriatic coast.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the UN-mandated panel of climate experts, it is “virtually certain” that the frequency and intensity of extreme heat and the duration of heatwaves have increased since 1950 and will continue to increase with global warming.

It was the hottest opening day on record at the Wimbledon tennis tournament when it opened in south-west London on Monday.

Temperatures reached a provisional high of 29.7°C at Kew Gardens in west London on Monday afternoon, surpassing the previous record of 29.3°C set in June 2001. Temperatures are set to climb to 34°C in one of the hottest June days on record.

Researchers in the UK have predicted an elevated death toll as a result of the heat wave. A snap analysis from Imperial College London and the School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine had predicted a total of 570 excess deaths due to heat exposure across England and Wales between June 19 and 22.

Temperatures reached 32°C on the Saturday, with more than 250 excess deaths anticipated. A heatwave in July 2022, when temperatures reached 40°C, was estimated to have led to 1,100 excess deaths.

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