LONDON — Record-breaking temperatures swept across Europe on Friday as an intense heatwave pushed thermometers to unprecedented June highs in several countries.
Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands all recorded provisional June temperature records, while authorities across the continent warned that extreme conditions would persist into the weekend.
Germany registered a provisional national June record of 41.3°C in Saarbrücken near the French border. Belgium also recorded an unofficial 40°C in Kleine Brogel, while the Netherlands reached 39.4°C in Limburg. In the United Kingdom, a provisional June record of 37.1°C was measured at Cavendish in Suffolk.
The World Meteorological Organization warned that the heatwave would have “major impacts” on public health, ecosystems, agriculture, and labor, with spokeswoman Clare Nullis saying people would have to “get used to it, unfortunately.”
Scientists from World Weather Attribution said temperatures across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and southern England were running between 5°C and 12°C above seasonal averages because of a persistent high-pressure system. They described the current episode as the most severe June heatwave ever recorded in the region.
Climate experts say Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, heating at roughly twice the global average.
The heatwave has been linked to a growing number of fatalities. Spain’s MoMo mortality monitoring system reported 327 heat-related deaths between Sunday and Thursday, while French authorities said the death toll was also increasing, with Health Minister Catherine Vautrin expressing particular concern about fatalities occurring in private homes.
French officials also reported 55 drowning deaths since the heatwave began, many involving people swimming in unsupervised areas.
The extreme temperatures forced the cancellation of several major public events, including Paris Pride, the Solidays music festival, the Defqon.1 music festival in the Netherlands, and the Hamburg Half Marathon in Germany. Organizers of the Diamond League athletics meeting in Paris opted to modify the event schedule instead of canceling it.
The heat also disrupted transportation. A Eurostar train traveling from Cologne to Paris broke down near Brussels with around 400 passengers onboard, and three people were taken to hospital as a precaution.
In Switzerland, operators shut down both reactors at the Beznau nuclear power plant after the temperature of the River Aare rose to levels considered too warm to safely cool the facility.
Meanwhile, Swiss glacier researchers warned that the country’s glaciers are melting at an unusually rapid pace, with winter snow reserves expected to disappear by Monday—weeks earlier than normal—raising fears that this year could rival 2022, the worst year on record for glacier loss.
Source: Saudi Gazette