- Authorities shut down more than 1,300 schools nationwide
- Escalating heat spikes triggering global health emergencies
- Many countries issue alerts on present danger to health
Two toddlers, aged four and two, have been found dead after being trapped in a sweltering vehicle in south-eastern France, a devastating casualty of the brutal heatwave gripping Western Europe, according to a local prosecutor
This is as meteorologists warn that absolute temperature records are about to shatter, with the deaths of both toddlers serving as a grim reminder of the vulnerability of children to the extreme weather sweeping the continent.
Official weather information indicate that a large swathe of western Europe currently suffers a ferocious heatwave forecast and Hélène Mourges, the prosecutor in the town of Carpentras, where the temperature was expected to exceed 39C (102.2F) on Monday afternoon, said, “The causes of death are yet to be determined, but the heat is the leading line of inquiry”.
The deaths follow those of three elderly people, aged between 80 and 95, who died near Bordeaux over the weekend as a result of health problems caused by the extreme temperatures, an official said. Thirteen more drowned in swimming accidents.
French authorities on Monday placed half the country, 49 of the country’s 96 mainland departments, on a level 1 danger-to-life warning, urging 35 million people to exercise “absolute vigilance”, avoid strenuous exertion and stay out of direct sun.
A further six departments will be added to the red list on Tuesday, with 35 others remaining on a level 2 orange alert. “Very high temperatures are setting in for the long term across the country,” said the national weather service, Météo-France.
It said temperatures throughout western and central France were likely to exceed 40C from Monday afternoon, hitting 43C in Bordeaux, 41C in Limoges, 40C in Toulouse and Tours and 39C in Paris, and would continue rising until the end of the week.
Night-time lows are also likely to be far higher than normal until at least Friday, Météo-France said, with the minimum temperatures of about 25C recorded in several towns and cities overnight on Sunday already setting all-time records.
Going by France’s so-called national heat index, an average of the day and night-time highs measured at 30 weather stations around the country, hit its highest level for June on Monday, the forecaster said.
Already, more than 1,300 schools were closed nationwide on Monday, while another 4,000 rescheduled classes to allow pupils to leave early. One in 10 regional train services around Paris were cancelled amid fears for rolling stock and tracks.
Stéphanie Rist, France’s Health Minister, who visited a Paris hospital on Monday, said, “Many people are going to suffer, because bodies suffer from an accumulation of high temperatures”, even as she urged people to check on elderly and vulnerable neighbours.
“We’re heading for, at the very least, several days of very, very hot weather. We really don’t know when temperatures will start falling,” Rist later told French television.
Though France went ahead with its annual street music festival, the Fête de la Musique, on Sunday, some local authorities called it off altogether and others ran only evening events. Alcohol restrictions were imposed in many areas.
In Spain, authorities declared their first official heatwave of the year from Sunday until Wednesday, with temperatures forecast to reach 44C in some areas. A public screening in Madrid of the national football team’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia was cancelled.
The state weather service, Aemet, warned on Sunday of “extremely high” day and night temperatures and issued a red alert for the northern Basque region where the city of San Sebastián was forecast to hit 40C, more than double the seasonal average.
“We are seeing temperatures between 5 and 10 degrees above normal for this time of year, and in some northern areas even more than 10 degrees above average,” said Rubén del Campo, a spokesperson for the meteorological agency.
In Germany, organisers suspended the final of the Berlin Open tennis tournament and cleared everyone out of the event location because of severe thunderstorms as temperatures in the German capital topped 30C over the weekend.
Temperatures in Belgium, already past 30C on Sunday, would be “the hottest ever recorded”, said David Dehenauw, the head of forecasting at the IRM weather institute. Some rush-hour trains were cancelled to limit the risk of breakdowns.
In the United Kingdom (UK), the Met Office national weather service has issued an “extreme heat” warning for much of southern England and parts of Wales until Thursday, predicting temperatures of up to 39C. The current record for a June day is 35.6C, set in 1976.
Similarly, the Italian Health Ministry has issued maximum-level heatwave red alerts across 12 cities, including major hubs like Milan, Turin, Venice, Bologna, Florence, and Rome, to warn the public that extreme heat poses severe health risks to everyone, not just vulnerable demographics.
Because these extreme conditions can trigger severe dehydration, sunburn, and heatstroke, authorities strongly advise taking necessary safety precautions
Meanwhile, scientists have said that as the Earth continues to warm, extreme heat events historically confined to high summer will become more frequent, more intense and last longer, as well as happening earlier and later in the year.
