FLASH
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The extreme heat wave that has swept across Europe has broken historic temperature records in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, while the death toll is rising in France and Spain.
Due to the high risk to public health, authorities have canceled concerts, festivals, sporting competitions and other mass events in several countries on the continent.
Germany recorded its highest temperature ever, 41.3 degrees Celsius, in the southwestern city of Saarbrücken, near the French border. New June records were also set in Belgium and the Netherlands, while the United Kingdom reached 37.1 degrees Celsius.
According to AFP estimates, around 150 million people in Europe faced temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius on Friday. Meteorologists warn that the weekend could bring new records in the Czech Republic, Austria and Balkan countries.
Scientists at World Weather Attribution say the current heatwave is the most severe ever recorded for this period, with temperatures 5 to 12 degrees Celsius above the seasonal average. According to them, climate change is making Europe the fastest-warming continent in the world.
The consequences of extreme temperatures have severely affected health systems. In France, authorities are warning of a rise in the death toll, while hospitals in the Paris region have activated emergency plans due to overload.
In Spain, the national monitoring system MoMo recorded 327 deaths linked to high temperatures between Sunday and Thursday alone. In France, the number of drowning deaths during the heatwave has reached 55, most of them in unsupervised areas.
The extreme temperatures have also caused other tragedies. In Marseille, an 18-month-old baby died after being found in an overheated vehicle, while similar cases of children left in cars have also been reported in Paris and Carpentras.
Due to the high risk, authorities have canceled or postponed a number of public events. In Paris, the Pride Parade and the Solidays music festival were postponed, while in the Netherlands, the Defqon.1 festival was canceled after a red alert was declared for extreme heat. In Germany, the Hamburg Half Marathon was also canceled.
The heatwave has also affected transport and energy. A Eurostar train carrying around 400 passengers was stranded near Brussels, while in Switzerland the Beznau nuclear power plant shut down two reactors after the temperature of the Aare River became too high to cool them.
In Spain, even as temperatures began to drop, a massive forest fire near Barcelona forced some 16,000 people to stay indoors. Authorities have arrested a man suspected of arson.
Meanwhile, Swiss researchers warn that the heatwave is accelerating the melting of glaciers. According to them, the snow reserves accumulated during the winter are expected to dry up several weeks earlier than usual, making this summer one of the most worrying for alpine ecosystems.
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