Europe is enduring a severe and expansive heatwave, with the AFP news agency calculating that at least 101 million people across the continent are facing temperatures exceeding 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit). This includes 50 million people in France and 18 million in Germany. On Thursday, maximum temperatures are forecast to surpass 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) for over 380 million people, nearly two-thirds of Europe’s population, based on analysis from the German weather service and 2025 population projections from the Joint Research Centre. The extreme heat is affecting a wide swath of Western and Central Europe, including the UK, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Croatia.
The heatwave has shattered numerous national temperature records. The UK recorded its hottest ever June temperature on Thursday, with the mercury reaching 36.4 degrees Celsius in Somerset, breaking the previous record set just the day before. Switzerland also registered its hottest June temperature ever, with 38 degrees Celsius measured in Basel, surpassing an 80-year-old record. In France, about 63 million people are experiencing temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius, prompting the French weather agency to place three-quarters of the country under a rare red alert for extreme heat. The heat has caused infrastructure failures, such as an equipment malfunction in Brittany that left tens of thousands without power, and tragic incidents, including the death of a young child in a car in the Paris suburbs.
The health impacts of the heatwave are stark, with Spain reporting a potential link to 212 deaths between Sunday and Wednesday, according to estimates from the MoMo monitoring system. This system compiles daily death statistics and compares them with historical and weather data to assess likely causes of mortality spikes. The number of heat-related deaths in Spain last year reached 3,832, an 87.6% increase from 2024. Mainland Spain recorded its highest daily average temperatures for June since at least 1950, with „tropical nights” making sleep challenging and threatening public health. While most weather alerts have been lifted, the heatwave continues to impact millions across Europe, highlighting the growing threat of extreme weather events linked to climate change.
Ez a cikk a Neural News AI (V1) verziójával készült.