Temperature records shattered in Europe as deadly heatwave shifts east
BERLIN/MILAN/COPENHAGEN - From Scandinavia to the Alps, Europeans endured sweltering conditions on June 27 as a heatwave linked to dozens of deaths spread east, shattering records with temperatures in some areas soaring above 40 deg C.
Preliminary all-time temperature records were set on June 27 in Germany, Denmark and the Czech Republic, and a new mark for the month of June in Switzerland.
Similar records have been broken earlier this week in France and Britain.
Scientists said the stifling heatwave would have been virtually impossible without man-made climate change, which has made this week’s night-time temperatures 100 times more likely than they would have been even two decades ago.
“This heat isn’t pleasant summer weather. It’s a health crisis,” Katrin Goering-Eckardt, a German federal lawmaker and former leader of the Green Party, said on X.
Such was the heat in Berlin, where temperatures climbed to 39 deg C on June 27, that police deployed two water cannons across the city to spray mist onto people looking for relief.
A new preliminary German record of 41.5 deg C on June 27 in Mockern-Drewitz in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt topped a record set just the day before of 41.3 deg C near Saarbruecken on the French border, Germany’s Meteorological Service said.
A police water cannon being used to cool people down at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, on June 27. PHOTO: REUTERS
The Danish Meteorological Institute, meanwhile, reported a 37 deg C reading north of the city of Aarhus on June 27, the highest on record since measurements began in 1874.
Preliminary readings in the Czech Republic also showed record temperatures on June 27 afternoon, with 40.8 deg C measured north of Prague, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute said.
A restaurant staff member spraying people with water to help cool them down in Prague, Czech Republic, on June 27. PHOTO: EPA
In Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava, authorities recorded the hottest night on record on June 26.
German authorities issued extreme heat warnings for nearly the whole of the country on June 27. As the heatwave moved east, temperatures rose well over 30 deg C across almost all of Poland.
In France, dozens of people, both young and old, have died during the heatwave. Temperatures above 40 deg C have disrupted rail travel and power generation, sparked alcohol bans, suspended classes and postponed outdoor events.
France’s government said summer sales would be extended this year after a slow start due to the heatwave.
People cooling off in Paris’ Trocadero Fountains on June 27, near the Eiffel Tower. PHOTO: REUTERS
Italy’s health ministry issued a red alert for the heatwave in 18 cities including Milan, Rome, Turin, Venice, Genoa, Florence and Bologna for June 27 and 28.
The flow of the River Po has dropped dramatically, with seawater advancing deep inland, posing threats to local farming and the ecosystem of Italy’s most important waterway.
Even at night in the Alps there was little relief, with temperatures in Bolzano in Italy’s South Tyrol never falling below 25.4 deg C, the city’s meteorologist Dieter Peterlin said, a June record.
Ecologists fear for Europe’s glaciers.
Struggling with the prospect of damage to infrastructure, including buckling roads and swelling train tracks, some rail providers have sought to reduce traffic.
German national rail operator Deutsche Bahn allowed customers to cancel long-distance travel into early next week. Another operator, National Express, said it would suspend some trains on the afternoon of June 27 in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, as a precaution.
Near Hamburg, the main traffic lane on one of Germany’s busiest motorways was partially closed after heat split the asphalt.
In Switzerland, the Lausanne Pride march had extra water fountains and first responders, while Milan’s Pride march was pushed back until 5pm to curb the heat’s impact.
The Ironman European Championship long-distance triathlon taking place on June 28 in Frankfurt shortened the cycling and running courses due to the heat.
The most extreme heat is forecast to begin fading at the weekend, with heavy thunderstorms expected on June 28. Paris said it would close its parks, gardens and the Canal Saint-Martin swimming area early on June 27 due to storm forecasts.
Across Europe, cultural landmarks have had to close, farming has suffered, and some hospitals have struggled to cope.
The heatwave has pushed temperatures well above their seasonal average, according to the Reuters Climate Monitor, driven by a phenomenon known as an Omega block because of a shape similar to the Greek letter.
This weather pattern traps a bulging ball of hot air over regions for extended periods, with cooler air on its fringes. REUTERS
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