Paris: FranceSpain and other Western European nations braced for a raging June weekend on Saturday that is set to break records and raise concerns about the effects of wildfires and climate change.
Saturday’s weather will represent the peak of June’s heat, in line with scientists’ warnings that climate change will hit such events earlier than usual.
Temperatures already exceeded 40 °C (104 °F) in parts of France on Friday.
But they are due to soften slightly with thunderstorms in parts of France and other parts of Europe from Sunday.
French state weather forecaster Mateo France said June temperature records had already been broken in 11 regions on Friday and could reach 42 Celsius in some areas on Saturday.
“This is the first heatwave ever recorded in France” since 1947, said Matthew SorelA climatologist at Meteo France.
“With many regions likely to have beaten many monthly or even all-time temperature records,” he called the weather a “marker of climate change.”
In Spain, wildfires burned about 9,000 hectares (22,240 acres) of land in the northwest Sierra de la Culebra region on Friday, forcing nearly 200 people out of their homes, regional officials said.
And more than 3,000 people were evacuated from the Puy do Fu theme park in central Spain due to a massive fire nearby.
Firefighters were battling the fires in several other areas, including woodlands in Catalonia, where weather conditions complicated the fighting.
The temperature remained above 35 degree Celsius in most parts of the country on Friday.
– Hospitals full – More than half of French departments were at the highest or second-highest heat alert level as of Friday afternoon.
“The hospitals are at capacity, but meeting demand,” Health Minister Brigitte Bourguignon told reporters in Vienne, near Lyon, in the southeast.
School children were asked to stay at home in departments on alert level “Red” and the health ministry activated a special heatwave hotline.
The Red Cross also organized efforts to distribute water to a homeless community in Toulouse, where temperatures are expected to rise to 38 degrees Celsius on Saturday.
“There are more people dying on the streets in the summer than in the winter,” said volunteer Hughes Juggler, 67.
Meanwhile, at the music festival Hellfest in western France, rock and metal fans were sprayed with water from hoses and giant vaporizers in front of the stage as they headbanged or bounced back to an opening-day line-up including the Deftones and The Offspring.
Several towns in northern Italy have declared water rations and the Lombardy region could declare a state of emergency as a record drought threatens crops.
Ibrahim Thiaw |The acting secretary of the UN conference charged with reversing land degradation warned on Friday that droughts are “set to increase in severity and frequency”.
“The consequences of drought could affect three-quarters of humanity by 2050,” he said during a speech in Madrid.
Meteorologists said Friday was the hottest day of the year in Britain, with temperatures rising above 30 degrees Celsius in the afternoon.
It was the third day in a row that the temperature record was broken in Britain, where it was 28 Celsius on Wednesday and 29.5 Celsius on Thursday.
– Climate change – Experts warned that higher temperatures were caused by worrying climate change trends.
“As a result of climate change, heat waves are starting earlier,” said Claire Nullis, a spokeswoman. world meteorological organization in Geneva.
“What we see today is unfortunately a foreshadowing of the future” if concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere continue to rise and global warming is pushed to 2 Celsius above pre-industrial levels, he said. Told.
In France, special measures have been taken in care homes for elderly people, still marked by the memory of a deadly 2003 heatwave that claimed at least 15,000 lives.
Water is being sprayed on buildings to cool them and residents are being moved to air-conditioned rooms.
In the Gironde department, which includes Bordeaux, officials said all public events outside or in non-air-conditioned spaces would be banned from 2:00 pm (1200 GMT) on Friday, in a move to be widespread across the region. is defined.
And speed limits have been lowered in many areas, including Paris, to limit the concentration of harmful haze or ozone in the summer.
Paris police chief Didier Lallement said only the least polluting vehicles would be allowed to ply in the capital on Saturday due to particulate pollution.
Electric grid operator RTE said the increasing use of fans and air-conditioners is also increasing power consumption.
Saturday’s weather will represent the peak of June’s heat, in line with scientists’ warnings that climate change will hit such events earlier than usual.
Temperatures already exceeded 40 °C (104 °F) in parts of France on Friday.
But they are due to soften slightly with thunderstorms in parts of France and other parts of Europe from Sunday.
French state weather forecaster Mateo France said June temperature records had already been broken in 11 regions on Friday and could reach 42 Celsius in some areas on Saturday.
“This is the first heatwave ever recorded in France” since 1947, said Matthew SorelA climatologist at Meteo France.
“With many regions likely to have beaten many monthly or even all-time temperature records,” he called the weather a “marker of climate change.”
In Spain, wildfires burned about 9,000 hectares (22,240 acres) of land in the northwest Sierra de la Culebra region on Friday, forcing nearly 200 people out of their homes, regional officials said.
And more than 3,000 people were evacuated from the Puy do Fu theme park in central Spain due to a massive fire nearby.
Firefighters were battling the fires in several other areas, including woodlands in Catalonia, where weather conditions complicated the fighting.
The temperature remained above 35 degree Celsius in most parts of the country on Friday.
– Hospitals full – More than half of French departments were at the highest or second-highest heat alert level as of Friday afternoon.
“The hospitals are at capacity, but meeting demand,” Health Minister Brigitte Bourguignon told reporters in Vienne, near Lyon, in the southeast.
School children were asked to stay at home in departments on alert level “Red” and the health ministry activated a special heatwave hotline.
The Red Cross also organized efforts to distribute water to a homeless community in Toulouse, where temperatures are expected to rise to 38 degrees Celsius on Saturday.
“There are more people dying on the streets in the summer than in the winter,” said volunteer Hughes Juggler, 67.
Meanwhile, at the music festival Hellfest in western France, rock and metal fans were sprayed with water from hoses and giant vaporizers in front of the stage as they headbanged or bounced back to an opening-day line-up including the Deftones and The Offspring.
Several towns in northern Italy have declared water rations and the Lombardy region could declare a state of emergency as a record drought threatens crops.
Ibrahim Thiaw |The acting secretary of the UN conference charged with reversing land degradation warned on Friday that droughts are “set to increase in severity and frequency”.
“The consequences of drought could affect three-quarters of humanity by 2050,” he said during a speech in Madrid.
Meteorologists said Friday was the hottest day of the year in Britain, with temperatures rising above 30 degrees Celsius in the afternoon.
It was the third day in a row that the temperature record was broken in Britain, where it was 28 Celsius on Wednesday and 29.5 Celsius on Thursday.
– Climate change – Experts warned that higher temperatures were caused by worrying climate change trends.
“As a result of climate change, heat waves are starting earlier,” said Claire Nullis, a spokeswoman. world meteorological organization in Geneva.
“What we see today is unfortunately a foreshadowing of the future” if concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere continue to rise and global warming is pushed to 2 Celsius above pre-industrial levels, he said. Told.
In France, special measures have been taken in care homes for elderly people, still marked by the memory of a deadly 2003 heatwave that claimed at least 15,000 lives.
Water is being sprayed on buildings to cool them and residents are being moved to air-conditioned rooms.
In the Gironde department, which includes Bordeaux, officials said all public events outside or in non-air-conditioned spaces would be banned from 2:00 pm (1200 GMT) on Friday, in a move to be widespread across the region. is defined.
And speed limits have been lowered in many areas, including Paris, to limit the concentration of harmful haze or ozone in the summer.
Paris police chief Didier Lallement said only the least polluting vehicles would be allowed to ply in the capital on Saturday due to particulate pollution.
Electric grid operator RTE said the increasing use of fans and air-conditioners is also increasing power consumption.