Europe's deadly heatwave breaks records and halts public events
A heatwave across Europe has broken June temperature records in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands, caused dozens of deaths in Spain and France, and forced the cancellation of major public events due to health risks.
Temperatures soared across Europe on Friday, breaking June records in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Germany recorded its highest temperature ever, 41.3°C, provisionally in Saarbrücken near the French border. France endured its hottest three consecutive days this week, and Health Minister Stéphanie Rist expressed particular concern about deaths occurring at home. The World Meteorological Organization's Clare Nullis warned of major impacts on health, ecosystems, agriculture, and labor, adding that people need to get used to such conditions.
Spain's MoMo monitoring system recorded 327 heat-related deaths between Sunday and Thursday, with most occurring in the last two days. In France, drowning deaths since the heatwave began have reached 55, about two-thirds in unsupervised areas. An 18-month-old child died in Marseille after being left in a car suffering hyperthermia. Authorities canceled several major events. Paris Pride organizers are looking to reschedule the march to September, and the Solidays music festival at Longchamp was called off. The Dutch Defqon.1 festival was halted after a red code warning, prompting police to respond to unrest from attendees. Germany's Hamburg Half Marathon was also canceled. However, the Diamond League athletics meeting in Paris will proceed on Sunday with a later start time.
In the UK, a provisional June record of 37.1°C was recorded in Cavendish, Suffolk. Switzerland's Beznau nuclear power plant shut down both reactors because the River Aare reached 25°C, too warm for cooling. Czech and Austrian forecasters expect new national records over the weekend. In Spain, temperatures have begun to subside, but a wildfire northeast of Barcelona forced 16,000 people to stay indoors. Swiss glacier researchers warn that winter snow reserves will be exhausted by Monday, triggering glacier melt about a month earlier than usual.
