Three people died due to extreme heat in France and thousands of schools closed or modified timetables as European authorities issued heatwave warnings and forecasters in Britain said temperatures could smash records for June this week.
Temperatures in Bordeaux in southwestern France were forecast to exceed 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday and weather agency Meteo France said 49 regional administrative areas would be under a red heatwave warning.
“We’re heading for, at the very least, several days of very, very hot weather. We don’t know when temperatures will start falling,” French Health Minister Stephanie Rist said on TV channel TF1.
Three elderly people, aged between 80 and 95, died over the weekend in the Bordeaux region as a result of health issues caused by the current heatwave, local government official Sophie Brocas told France TV late on Sunday.
EASILY BREAKING JUNE RECORD
The Met Office, Britain’s national weather forecaster, said on Monday that a four-day heatwave covering southern and central England and parts of Wales could push temperatures above 39C in some places, easily breaking the record of 35.6C set for June in 1957 and 1976.
The June heatwave follows a record-breaking May, when Britain recorded its hottest day for the month, hitting 35.1C.
In Spain, state weather agency Aemet issued a red alert for the Basque region, in the normally cooler north of the country, with the mercury in San Sebastian set to rise to a high of 40C, more than double the city’s historic average for June 22, according to the Reuters Climate Monitor.
San Sebastian was set to be hotter than the southern cities of Seville and Cordoba, which normally record the country’s most intense summer heat.
“We are seeing temperatures between 5 and 10 degrees above normal for this time of year, and in some northern areas even more than 10 degrees above average,” said Rubén del Campo, spokesperson for Aemet.
LITTLE RELIEF AT NIGHT
The night was providing little relief in some parts of Spain, with temperatures failing to drop below 25C or even 30C in places like the southwestern province of Almeria, Aemet said.
Europe was the continent furthest from its historic norm on Monday, with an average high temperature of 24C, which was 4.1C above what was typical from 1961-1990, according to the climate monitor. By comparison, Asia and North America were 2C and 1.3C above the historic norm.
Near Rome’s Pantheon, tourists dipped their hats or caps in fountains and splashed their faces or draped wet towels round their necks, while others took refuge in restaurants with misting fans.
Wildlife shelters in northern Europe were struggling to cope with the number of animals being brought in suffering from the heat. Birds such as swifts, swallows, sparrows and starlings, which make their nests in the eaves of roofs, have been particularly affected by abnormally high temperatures, said Romaine de Jaegere, a biologist and founder of the Centre for the Rehabilitation of Animals Living in the Wild (Creaves) wildlife refuge in Temploux in Belgium.
“Temperatures on the roofs can sometimes reach 50, even 60 degrees Celsius. So they prefer to jump rather than let themselves die and literally cook in their nests,” De Jaegere told Reuters, adding that the shelter had received 150 animals in the last three days.
Spain’s Labour Ministry said it was monitoring whether companies were complying with laws that allow workers to reduce or adjust their working hours when orange or red weather alerts are issued. Workers are also entitled to up to four days of paid leave if they are unable to reach their workplace due to weather conditions,
