Englishmen abroad are warned to stay out of the midday sun
TEMPERATURES in Europe yesterday came close to breaking all-time records, as holidaymakers in Spain and Portugal were told to stay out of the midday sun.
Meteorologists in Granada, Spain, recorded temperatures of 46.6C (115.52F), just shy of the European record, 48C (118.4F) in Athens in 1977. The scorching heat was measured just miles from the popular holiday towns of Malaga and Almeria.
The heatwave is driven by a mass of hot air travelling from northern Africa across Spain and Portugal, known as the “Iberian Plume”.
Weather agencies in Spain and Portugal declared red alerts, while in the Algarve more than 700 firefighters tackled a wildfire.
The authorities in France closed five nuclear reactors amid fears that river water used for cooling would overheat.
In Hamburg, Germany, water in the Alster river was reported to have reached a record 27.5C (81.5F), reducing oxygen levels in the water and killing fish.
In another consequence of the extreme heat, numerous stingrays have been sighted unusually close to France’s Mediterranean coast, lured by the warmer water.
Females are approaching beaches to give birth or look for food, but are only dangerous if disturbed, experts said.
At La Palmyre Zoo in south-west France, carnivores were cooling off with blood and meat sorbets. For herbivores, there was frozen fruit.
Parents in France were told to give their children water every 30 minutes, and Patrick Pelloux, head of the French Association of Emergency Doctors, urged people to avoid jogging or playing sports during the heatwave.
“It’s suicidal to do sports under the blazing sun,” he said.
The Foreign Office urged holidaymakers to stay safe in the sun, advising tourists to apply sun cream correctly, remain indoors when the sun was at its peak, and to be vigilant of forest fires. In the UK, temperatures were more mild, with temperatures of 29C (84F) reported in the south of England.
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital advised Londoners on Twitter to avoid the sun between 11am and 3pm, as increased pressure was placed on A&E services. A firework display in North Norfolk, scheduled to take place today, has been cancelled amid fears of fire risk. Grass in the surrounding area was described by the organisers of Sheringham Carnival as “tinder dry”.
A meteorologist from the Met Office said that conditions could get even warmer. “We’re looking at potentially even warmer conditions across the South East early next week. Monday and Tuesday we can certainly see 32C, and a 30 per cent probability of 34C,” he said.
While the weather will cool down by the end of next week, the end of August and start of September could see more temperatures of 30C and above, prolonging Britain’s unusually warm summer.
The Met Office reported that June was the second-hottest on record, with an average daytime temperature in the UK of 19.9C (68F). July was also the second hottest, behind the July of 2006.