Western Europe
Heat apocalypse: Blistering temperatures scorched much of Western Europe this week, leading to more than 1,100 heat-related deaths in Spain and Portugal and blazing records in other countries. Temperatures soared as high as 104.4 degrees Fahrenheit in the United Kingdom, where only 5 percent of homes have air-conditioning, while Paris saw a high of 104.9 degrees. Wildfires ripped through forests in France, Portugal, Spain, and Greece, forcing thousands to evacuate their homes. Firefighters in France’s southwestern tourist region of Gironde fought two blazes that destroyed nearly 50,000 acres of land and sent smoke billowing over nearby Bordeaux. “It’s a monster like an octopus,” said Gironde regional president Jean-Luc Gleyze, “and it’s growing and growing and growing in the front, in the back, on both sides.”
The U.K., France, and other countries declared heat emergencies and urged residents to avoid nonessential travel. The U.K. got its first-ever “red warning” for extreme heat; in London, much of the Underground was closed, and the heat stoked fires around the city. According to a study published this month in Nature, the increase is caused in part by lowpressure zones off the coast of Portugal that draw air from North Africa and pump it into Europe. Scientists said that the intense heat was a climate “wake-up” call, and likely to be one of many. “If we continue under a high-emissions scenario we could see temperatures like these every three years,” warned U.K. Meteorological Office chief of science Stephen Belcher. “The only way that we can stabilize the climate is by achieving net zero—soon.”