France Records Hottest Day as European Heat Wave Intensifies
(Bloomberg) — France recorded its hottest ever night and day as the heat wave searing western Europe deepened, disrupting schools, transport and tourist sites.
As the week-long heat wave continued, 44.3C (112F) was recorded in Pissos in southwest France. The average daily temperature across the country hit an all-time high of 29.8C on Tuesday, according to government forecaster Météo-France. That followed France’s hottest ever night, with overnight lows averaging 21.6C.
Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of heat waves on the world’s fastest-warming continent, straining health, transport and power systems. The current heat blast comes before summer temperatures usually peak in July and has already been blamed for dozens of deaths. Long-term weather models and analysis from meteorologists suggest months of above-normal temperatures across Europe.
France is at the epicenter of this month’s heat wave, as a high-pressure heat dome is reinforced by atmospheric shifts linked to a developing El Niño. The country has issued red heat alerts for a record 72 departments, while similar warnings are in place in the UK, Germany, Spain and Switzerland.
This week, the punishing heat is pushing north from Europe’s mainland into Britain. The UK provisionally broke the record high temperature for June with 35.8 C recorded at Wiggonholt, West Sussex on Wednesday, according to the Met Office. Temperatures could reach 38C on Thursday and Friday.
Britain is also poised to see monthly records for high minimum temperatures, which will linger overnight and make heat exhaustion a growing health concern, the Met Office said.
“It’s so humid at the moment, making it extra uncomfortable,” UK Met Office Meteorologist Alex Burkill said in a briefing.
Extreme temperatures have triggered widespread school and transit disruptions across the UK and France, where some 1,800 schools were closed due and another 8,000 have been forced to change schedules due to the heat, according to Education Minister Edouard Geffray.
The failure of two transformers in Brittany, likely due to the extreme heat, has left 68,000 people without power.
The heat has also forced major tourism sites like the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre museum to close early.
In Italy, 16 of the country’s 27 biggest cities, including Rome, Florence and Milan, are on red alert for heat on Wednesday.
Parts of the Cantabria and Basque Country regions in northern Spain, where temperatures are usually cooler, were forecast to experience temperatures of as high as 42C on Wednesday, according to meteorological agency Aemet.
Amber heat warnings have also been issued for a wide swath of Europe, including the Netherlands, where soaring temperatures have triggered train delays and cancellations, including the busy route from The Hague to Amsterdam. Food delivery service Thuisbezorgd (Just Eat) has stopped food deliveries, a spokesperson told local De Telegraaf.
Drought and wildfire conditions are worsening across France, Spain and Greece, officials said. Soil moisture levels are approaching the driest ever observed in Alsace, Aquitaine, Auvergne, Limousin and Midi-Pyrénées departments.
Europe’s power supply is being squeezed by low wind generation and heat-related curbs at French nuclear plants, where high river temperatures are limiting output. Reductions began late Monday at Electricite de France’s Golfech reactor on the Garonne and expanded Tuesday to a Nogent unit on the Seine, with more cuts possible at three other sites.
The heat wave is expected to ease this weekend in the UK and France, but unusually warm temperatures are likely to linger across Europe until July, according to weather models the from European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
–With assistance from Charlotte Hughes-Morgan, Paul Tugwell and Flavia Rotondi.
(Updates with number of departments on red alert in fourth paragraph.)
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