Europe bakes again in heat wave
Region may be experiencing new normal in an era of climate change
PARIS — Europe baked in near-record temperatures on Monday but some respite was on the horizon after weeks of nonstop sunshine as people come to terms with what may prove to be the region’s new normal in an era of climate change.
Here is a roundup of recent developments:
France nearing a peak
Temperatures were expected to peak at around 37 C in the south on Monday, while the north is due to be hotter on Tuesday. On Saturday, they hit their highest levels since a 2003 heat wave killed thousands of mainly elderly people.
Three cities have banned the most polluting cars from the roads because of pollution linked to the current heat wave in Europe.
In Paris and Strasbourg, the ban concerns vehicles that are 12 years and older, while in Lyon only cars with a clean air sticker are allowed.
Spain fires under control
The death toll rose to seven after a 40-year-old German man succumbed to heat stroke on Sunday in the eastern region of Extremadura.
Firefighters, benefiting from calmer winds, were meanwhile gaining control of a wildfire in the southwestern province of Huelva, just across the border from the Algarve in southern Portugal.
Temperatures remained high, especially in the southeast where they were forecast to hit 40-42 C.
Portugal fires
Temperatures have eased slightly but not by enough to make the job of some 1,100 firefighters aided by 160 soldiers in Monchique any easier pending the expected arrival of two Spanish Canadair firefighting planes.
The weather service said that after Saturday’s peak, temperatures were back below 45 C and should continue lower over the next few days.
Fresh spike in Germany
The country expects a fresh spike midweek to around 39 C before temperatures ease, with official figures showing the average for April-July running 3.6 C higher than the 1961-90 reference period.
Farmers continued to plead for help, with the president of Germany’s farmers’ association, Joachim Rukwied, saying a billion euros ($1.15 billion) in government aid may be necessary as crop failure rates hit 70 percent in some areas.
British islands in trouble
The United Kingdom saw continued hot weather in the south with a maximum of 32 C but it was cooler and cloudier in the north.
Reports said the persistent lack of rain has hit the country’s more remote islands, such as Lundy in the Bristol Channel — with a population in the dozens — which is now reliant on bottled water from the mainland after local supplies ran dry.
Netherlands
The heat wave has hit the low-lying nation hard like many other countries, but no one thought it could be a threat to its world-famous system of dams and canals designed to keep the sea at bay.
River levels have fallen so low that seawater is seeping in to waterways, and the Rijkswaterstaat, which manages the national water system, has been opening barrages inland to flush it out.
Scorching Scandinavia
The country has been fighting an uncommon number of wildfires this summer, even above the Arctic Circle, and a European Union official point- ed his change.
In Norway, authorities warned motorists to watch out for reindeer and sheep taking shelter from the heat in highway finger at climate tunnels. The country has an estimated 220,000 reindeer and more than 800,000 sheep.