high temperatures broke an all-time record on Tuesday in the United Kingdom, which was hit by a heat wave that hit Western Europe and caused uncontrolled forest fires in the Iberian Peninsula.
At Heathrow Airport, west of London40.2 degrees were recorded, the British Meteorological Agency said around 13:00 (local time), noting that this is the first time this threshold has been exceeded in the country.
The record was set just an hour after they were reached in the town of Charlwood, near London’s Gatwick Airport, with temperatures of 39.1 degrees before noon. The record precedent in the country was 38.7 degrees, recorded on July 25, 2019 in Cambridge.
This is the second heat wave in Europe in just one month. Its increase, according to scientists, is a direct consequence of the climate crisis, as greenhouse gas emissions increase in intensity, duration and frequency.
Johnson was accused of not taking it seriously
in United Kingdom they were about to exceed 40 degrees for the first time in their history. On Monday, the temperature rose in the east England to 38.1 degrees, which is the third-highest indicator in the history of the country, which on this day experienced the hottest night, according to the weather service. In some places, the mercury column did not fall below 25 degrees.
The British Health and Safety Agency issued the first red alert warning that heat it is a risk even for young people and people in good health.
The government of the resigned Boris Johnson was accused of not taking the phenomenon seriously after the prime minister skipped an emergency heat-wave meeting on Sunday and instead attended a farewell party.
Doctors, for their part, condemned the comments of Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, who urged the British to “enjoy the sun.”
Heat wave in the rest of Europe
On Tuesday, the heatwave appeared to have moved to northern Europe, where Netherlands they were able to register 39 degrees, approaching their national record of 40.7 degrees in 2019. In Belgium, major museums on Tuesday offered free admission to people over 65 to escape the heat.
Temperatures are expected to rise to 40 degrees in the west. Germany, where fear of drought led farmers association president Henning Christ to warn of “big losses” in food production. “We have had almost no rain for several months combined with high temperatures,” he stressed.
AT France, after numerous heat records recorded the day before -42 degrees in Nantes (center-west) or 42.6 degrees in Biscarossa (south-west) – the temperature should drop slightly. The country continues to face two major fires in the Bordeaux region that have already destroyed 19,000 hectares of forest and forced the evacuation of 16,000 people.
More than 1,400 firefighters continued to fight fires also in the center and north of Portugal, despite the sharp drop in temperature recorded in recent days. The two most alarming fires occurred in the Vila Real region, in the far north of the country.
About half of the city European Union is currently under the threat of drought due to a long absence of rain. The European Commission has warned that this puts countries such as France, Romania, Spain, Portugal and Italy at risk of lower crop yields. (AFP)
Source: RPP
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