Europe stifles as heatwave grips, and higher temperatures are on the way
Heat warnings were issued for parts of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, and the UK, with new highs expected on Wednesday before rain is expected to bring respite to some areas.
'Extreme heat is no longer a rare event – it has become the new normal,' UN Secretary-General António Guterres tweeted from Seville, Spain, where temperatures hit 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit).
He called for action to fight climate change, saying 'the planet is getting hotter & more dangerous'.
Dr Hans Kluge, head of the World Health Organisation's Europe office, warned in a statement that the scorching heat 'silently threatens the people who need protection most: older adults, children, outdoor workers and anyone living with chronic health conditions'.
Spain's national weather service said no relief from the first heat wave of the year is expected until Thursday.
Sunday's national average of 28 degrees set a new high temperature for June 29 since records were started in 1950. In neighbouring Portugal, authorities issued a red heat warning for seven of 18 districts as temperatures were forecast to hit 43 degrees.
Sixteen regions of France, including Paris, have been placed on red alert for Tuesday, the BBC reported.
In a country where air conditioning remains relatively rare, authorities were taking extra efforts to care for the homeless and elderly people. Misting stations doused passers-by along the River Seine in Paris.
France's first significant forest fires of the season consumed 400 hectares of woods on Sunday and Monday in the southern Aude region.
Water-dumping planes and some 300 firefighters were mobilised, the regional emergency service said.
The peak of Mont Blanc, Europe's highest mountain, is above freezing in June for the first time ever.
Mont Blanc stands at 4809 metres, but Meteo France, the national forecaster, said on Saturday that it had to reach an altitude of 5135 metres to measure air at zero degrees.
In Turkey, forest fires forced the temporary closure of the airport in Izmir, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Authorities evacuated four villages as a precaution, the Forestry Ministry said.
Firefighters battled a blaze that broke out on Monday near residential areas in Hatay province, near the border with Syria, that prompted 1500 people to evacuate.
In Italy, the Health Ministry put 21 cities under its 'red' alert, which indicates 'emergency conditions with possible negative effects' on healthy, active people as well as others. Regional governments in northwestern Liguria and southern Sicily put restrictions on outdoor work.
There were torrential rains in the north, and parts of Bardonecchia near Turin were covered in sludge after the Frejus river burst its banks. RAI state television said one person was killed.
Britain's national weather service said the Wimbledon tennis tournament was facing what could be its hottest start, with temperatures just under 30 degrees. Tournament rules allow players to take a 10-minute break when the heat goes above 30.1 degrees mid-match.
Temperatures in southern Germany were forecast as high as 39 degrees on Wednesday. Some towns and regions have imposed limits on the amount of water that can be taken from rivers and lakes.
At the Berlin Zoo, elephants were showered with water and bears were treated with blocks of ice containing fruit.
Globally, extreme heat kills up to 480,000 people annually, surpassing the combined toll from floods, earthquakes and hurricanes, and poses growing risks to infrastructure, the economy and healthcare systems, Swiss Re said earlier this month.
Global surface temperatures last month averaged 1.4 degrees higher than in the pre-industrial period, when humans began burning fossil fuels on an industrial scale, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said earlier this month.
Scientists say the main cause of climate change is greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels. Last year was the planet's hottest on record.
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