France Braces for Unrelenting Heat Wave with Temperatures Topping 40°C
France braced Monday for a week of record-busting temperatures as a grueling heat wave combining daytime highs above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and sleepless, sweaty nights gripped the nation. The national weather service, Meteo France, reported that most of the country — the largest in the European Union and second most populated — is entering a "plateau" of unrelenting heat-wave conditions not forecast to ease before Friday at the earliest.
In a country without widespread air conditioning, people, businesses and services scrambled to adapt. Hundreds of schools were closed Monday, and many hundreds more canceled some classes, the education minister said. Broadcasts on the Paris transport network urged commuters to hydrate, while medical specialists warned on airwaves about the potentially deadly cocktail of drinking alcohol in extreme heat. Authorities cracked down on public alcohol consumption, and multiple drownings were reported as people sought relief in rivers despite warnings about currents and other dangers.
Red Alerts Expand Across More Than Half of France's Regions
A growing swath of France, spreading Monday to more than half of its regions, was under a "red alert" for heat. Larger areas were forecast to suffer highs exceeding 40 C and nights not dropping below 20 C. Human-caused climate change is tied to increasing extreme weather, and UN climate agency projections say the next five years should shatter more heat records.
In the United Kingdom, the weather office also issued an "extreme heat" warning for much of southern England and parts of Wales from Monday until Thursday. It said temperatures could reach 38 C (100 F). The current record for a June day is 35.6 C (96 F), reached in 1976.
WHO: Over 200,000 Heat-Related Deaths in Europe Over Four Years, Most Preventable
Over the last four years, more than 200,000 people across Europe died from heat-related causes, and most of the fatalities were preventable, the World Health Organization's Europe office said this month. More above-average temperatures are expected this summer, which can cause heat exhaustion and life-threatening heat stroke.
