Sudip Kar-Gupta and Emma Pinedo
Updated ,first published
Paris/Madrid: Forty people have drowned in France over recent days as they sought to cool down to escape record heat, the prime minister said on Tuesday, as a heatwave swept across much of Europe.
Britain, Italy, Switzerland and Spain were also sweltering in extreme heat, with record temperatures in some regions disrupting schools and transport networks.
Much of France is under severe heat alert and was set to experience temperatures around 40C on Tuesday, Meteo France said, with temperatures of up to 43C expected in some parts of western France.
The country has just recorded its hottest afternoon and night since records began in 1947.
Across France, people have been jumping into canals and rivers to cool off. French sports minister Marina Ferrari said she understood the urge to escape the heat but warned against swimming in unauthorised or dangerous areas. Drowning deaths spiked by 172 per cent in France last year during heatwaves as swimmers tried to cool off.
Speaking ahead of an emergency meeting on the heatwave, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said: “A sad scourge when it comes to drownings, as the latest figures just reported to us show 40 deaths since June 18, most of them young people.”
An April report by the World Meteorological Organisation found Europe is warming at more than double the global rate, making such prolonged heat episodes increasingly likely.
Two children die in hot car
On Monday, first responders were unable to resuscitate two children, aged 2 and 4, who were found unconscious by their mother in the family car outside their home, said a prosecutor in Carpentras, south-east France.
Three elderly people, aged between 80 and 95, died over the weekend in the Bordeaux region from health issues caused by the heatwave, local government official Sophie Brocas told France TV late on Sunday.
The heatwave affecting large parts of Europe is known as an Omega block because it takes the shape of the Greek letter, with a bulge of hot air in the middle and cooler air either side, said Clair Barnes, a research associate in extreme weather and climate at Imperial College in London.
“It’s drawing warm air up from North Africa, from the Sahara, and that’s why we have this really intense heat. It’s very slow-moving, and it means there’s kind of no wind, no breeze for respite,” she said.
Heatwaves and storms are being intensified by climate change, pushing temperatures higher and causing more rainfall, she said.
UK heat will break June record set in 1976
Britain is also in the grip of the heat, with the Met Office forecasting temperatures of up to 37C in southern England on Tuesday — easily breaking the June record of 35.6 degrees set in 1957 and 1976 — before rising further on Wednesday and Thursday.
Just a few weeks ago, Britain had shattered its record high temperature for May.
In London, overnight thunderstorms — part of the same volatile weather pattern — caused further disruption, including at Heathrow Airport.
Red alerts issued
In Italy, the health ministry issued its highest level alert for 15 cities and authorities took measures to curtail work in some sectors.
Spain’s meteorological agency has issued red alerts across parts of the country, warning of dangerous heat with temperatures expected to reach 44C. Nighttime has brought little relief, with around 30 monitoring stations still recording temperatures above 25C early on Tuesday.
