Europe set to sizzle again as heatwave continues
CARPENTRAS, June 29 (AFP) - Europe was bracing itself for a sweltering Saturday as the heatwave continued across the continent.
The Meteo-France weather service lifted its red warning but forecast a “very hot day” across a large central band of the country with the mercury expected to rise to 42 Celsius in some parts.
With France, Spain, Italy and parts of central Europe hard hit by the record-breaking temperatures, officials pleaded with people to take precautions.
France's new record temperature of 45.9C was registered on Friday in Gallargues-le-Montueux, breaking successive records set earlier in the day. This is the same area where the previous high of 44.1C was set in August 2003. The weather service said the new high was comparable to August temperatures in California's Death Valley.
The new record makes France just the seventh European country to have recorded a plus 45-degree temperature, along with Bulgaria, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Greece and North Macedonia, Meteo France said.
Two deaths linked to the heatwave were reported in Spain. A Spanish teenager felt dizzy while helping harvest wheat in the southern Andalusia region, took a dip in a swimming pool, and collapsed in convulsions. He was rushed to hospital in the town of Cordoba where he died.
A 93-year-old man collapsed and died on the street in the northern Spanish city of Valladolid, police said, giving heatstroke as the cause of death.
Heat-related deaths have also been reported in Italy, France and Germany, mainly among the elderly.
France remains haunted by the memory of the devastating heatwave of August 2003 which exposed the shortcomings of emergency services at the height of the summer holidays. That year, nearly 15,000 people are estimated to have died because of the heat, many of them elderly people at home.
“I want to appeal to the sense of responsibility of citizens -- there are avoidable deaths in every heatwave,” said French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe.
Scientists warn that global warming linked to human fossil fuel use could make such scorchers more frequent.
French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn lamented that despite a barrage of public health warnings on radio, TV and on public transport, some parents were still leaving their children in hot cars and joggers were out exercising in the midday heat.
In the Italian city of Milan, a 72-year-old homeless man was found dead at the main train station Thursday after falling ill in the heatwave.
In Spain, firefighters managed to halt the progression of a forest fire that broke out Wednesday in the northeastern Catalonia region and had burned more than 6,000 hectares. Spain's northeast was on red heatwave alert denoting “extreme risk”.
The stifling temperatures have caused air quality to nosedive in some European cities, prompting local authorities to take anti-pollution measures. In Paris, Lyon and Marseille, authorities have banned the most polluting cars from the roads in recent days.