Heat wave: Western Europe in the furnace

It is a matter of national emergency. Never in its history has the British Health Safety Agency issued a level 4 warning. This is an alarming warning about the dangers of heat, even for young and/or healthy people. In the United Kingdom, the east of England recorded 38.1°C on Monday, July 18, the highest temperature of the year and the third highest on record. The thermometer will again cross a new trend on Tuesday.

“Global warming is really here. We must act in the face of this phenomenon… and learn to live with it., commented Gary Evans, 68, retired from the seaside resort of Tankerton in the south-east of the country. Maximum temperatures are expected in Britain on Tuesday and will cross the 40°C mark, a first for the country. A British record was set on July 25, 2019, when Cambridge, in the east of England, recorded a temperature of 38.7 degrees. “Hotter than the Sahara”Monday’s newspaper published the headline the sun.

Some schools will remain closed, while major traffic disruptions are expected. Traffic is restricted at London Luton Airport “Surface defect” on track due to heat. On the train, many railway companies urged people not to travel on Tuesday, saying the British rail network was not designed for such heat.

The government was accused on Sunday of ignoring the situation after resigned Prime Minister Boris Johnson missed a crunch meeting in Downing Street.

Fires in the Iberian Peninsula

Spain, for its part, has been in the grip of a suffocating heat wave for more than a week, which has caused numerous fires, destroying tens of thousands of hectares. On Monday, almost the entire country was on high alert “high risk” Fire, high. “Climate change is killing people (…) But our environment, our biodiversity”, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez responded on Monday. In northwest Spain, a shepherd was killed in a raging blaze, the second death after a firefighter in the same area on Sunday.

After breaking its July record on Thursday, the north of the country recorded 47°C. In the center and north of the country, about 800 firefighters battled four blazes on Monday. According to Civil Defense, the wildfires killed four people, seriously injured five and led to the evacuation of 960 people in ten days. A 70-year-old couple was found dead in a burnt-out car, the mayor of Murga (North) announced on Monday.

Nearly 44,000 hectares have burned since the start of the year, more than in 2017, when 100 people were killed in the fires, according to the Nature and Forestry Agency.

Hot winds are also blowing in the north

The Netherlands recorded its hottest day of the year on Monday, with temperatures reaching 35.4 degrees Celsius in the southwestern city of Westorp. On Tuesday, temperatures could reach 39 degrees Celsius in the south and center of the Netherlands.

Belgium fears record heat on Tuesday, with the thermometer likely to climb to 40°C in places, according to the Royal Institute of Materials (IRM). Tables are arranged for certain trades exposed to heat.

According to the European Commission, half of the EU is currently at risk of drought due to a lack of rainfall, revealing a potential decline in crop yields in countries such as France, Romania, Spain, Portugal and Italy. .

Scientists say the proliferation of extreme weather events is a direct result of global warming, with greenhouse gas emissions increasing in both intensity, duration and frequency.