Europe Heat Wave: U.K. Records Hottest-Ever Temperature

Saint-Brieuc, on the normally temperate coast of Brittany, topped 39.5 C. The western city of Nantes recorded 42 C, beating a decades-old high of 40.3 C set in 1949. France’s all-time temperature record was 45.9 C, recorded in 2019 near the southern city of Montpellier

In southwestern France’s Gironde region, two large wildfires raging for a week across dry pine forests have forced the evacuation of 32,000 people. The blazes have already destroyed a total of 190 square kilometers (more than 70 square miles) of forest.

Fire officials said strong winds and heat are fanning the flames, despite the deployment of waterbombing aircraft.

DW correspondent Barbara Wesel reporting from Gironde said the forests in the area are “tinder dry” and go up in flames very easily driven by strong winds.

The temperatures have let up a bit so it’s easier for the firefighters, but the wind makes their life incredibly difficult because the fire jumps from one side of the road to the other.”

The blaze was literally “blowing things up” with its ferocity, said Marc Vermeulen, head of the local firefighting service, adding that exploding trees were scattering embers and spreading the blaze further. “We’re facing extreme and exceptional circumstances,” he said.

French weather channel La Chaine Meteo reported Tuesday that conditions in the affected regions are forecast to improve over the next 48 hours, with an eastern wind from the Atlantic bringing thunderstorms and cooler temperatures. 

Fire Risk High in Germany 
Germany’s weather service (DWD) said Tuesday that parts of the country’s west could crack the 40 C mark, putting the all-time temperature record of 41.2 C recorded in 2019 within reach.

The DWD said the extreme heat is centered on the Western states of Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, especially including low-lying areas on the Rhine and Ruhr rivers.

Areas of Germany have also raised forest fire alert levels. In 10 of Germany’s 16 states, predominately in the south, west and northeast, the highest of five alert stages has been issued. 

In the Sauerland area of North Rhine-Westphalia, 200 firefighters responded to a large forest fire on Tuesday afternoon with water dropped from helicopters. Fire officials said high winds and heat were keeping the flames alive. The cause of the fire was not immediately clear. 

The Bavarian forestry minister has called on the public to be especially careful when walking through forests, warning that even a single cigarette butt can ignite an inferno.

How Is the Heat Affecting Other European Regions?
Further south in Spain, wildfires in the northwestern Zamora province have claimed two lives. The body of a 69-year-old sheep farmer was found Monday in the same area where a 62-year-old firefighter had died Sunday.

On Tuesday, the EFE news agency reported that 5,800 people were ordered evacuated from 34 towns in Zamora, and eight roads in the region have been closed. 

Spain’s El Pais newspaper reported Tuesday that wildfires have burned a total of over 60,000 hectares across the country. Twenty out of the 30 fires in Spain remain uncontrolled. 

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Tuesday said Europe’s heat wave will likely peak on Tuesday, but added that temperatures are forecast to remain higher than normal into next week. 

Meteorologist Matthew Cappucci told DW that human-induced climate change means more heat waves can be expected in the future.

Right now this is a roughly once in 100 to 300 year event. By the end of the century, thanks to human-induced climate change, it will be a once in ever 10 to 15 year event,” he said.

Heat waves getting worse, getting longer, and getting more severe will have a much higher human impact,” he added.

This article is published courtesy of Deutsche Welle (DW).