Barcelona records hottest June and Eiffel Tower's summit closes as Europe sizzles
Barcelona's Fabra Observatory reported an average temperature for last month of 26 C (78 F), breaking records since books were started in 1914. The previous hottest average for June was 25.6 C in 2003. The same weather station said that a single-day high of 37.9 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) for June was recorded Monday.
Barcelona is usually spared the worst heat in Spain, thanks to its location between hills and the Mediterranean in Spain's northeastern corner. But most of the country has been gripped by the extreme heat.
'We are seeing these temperatures because we are experiencing a very intense heat wave that has come early in the summer and that is clearly linked to global warming,' Ramón Pascual, a delegate for Spain's weather service in Barcelona, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
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Pascual added that the inhabitants of the Mediterranean region are not being helped by the rising sea temperatures, which greatly reduces any cooling effects of a nearby body of water. Spain's weather service said that recent surface temperatures for the Mediterranean near the Balearic Islands are between 5-6 degrees Celsius higher than average.
'With water surface temperatures from 26-30 Celsius (78-86 Farenheit), it is difficult for our nights to be refreshing,' he said.
Spain's national average for June of 23.6 degrees Celsius (74 degrees Fahrenheit) was 0.8 C hotter than the previous hottest June in 2017. It was also the first time that June was hotter than the average temperatures for both July and August.
Spain also saw a new high mark for June established on Saturday when 46 degrees Celsius (114 degrees Fahrenheit) was recorded in the southern province of Huelva.
The streets were scorching as well in Spain's capital, with Madrid forecast to reach 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit), as people tried to keep cool by drinking refrigerated drinks and sticking to the shade. But the hot nights offered little relief.
'Today is very bad, but yesterday wasn't any better. So we're just surviving,' said Miguel Sopera, 63. 'At night it's impossible due to the terrible heat.'
In France, the national weather agency Météo-France placed several departments under the highest red alert, with the Paris region particularly hard hit. More than 1,300 schools in the country were partially or fully closed.
Visitors to the Eiffel Tower without tickets were told to postpone their visits as the summit of the city's landmark was closed until Thursday. The operators said the closure was 'to ensure everyone's comfort and safety.'
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Climate experts warn that future summers are likely to be hotter than any recorded to date. By 2100, France could be up to 4 degrees Celsius (39 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius expected every year and extreme heat spikes potentially reaching 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit).
Farther south, 17 of Italy's 27 major cities were experiencing a heat wave, according to the health ministry.
There were torrential rains in Italy's north on Monday and parts of Bardonecchia near Turin were covered in sludge after the Frejus river burst its banks.
Near Bologna, one of the cities under a heat alert Tuesday, the 46-year-old owner of a construction company collapsed and died while repaving a school parking lot, state-run RAI reported. An autopsy was being conducted to determine the cause, but heat was suspected.
In the Dutch town of Soest, first responders said they were bringing a firehose to an early evening water gun fight.
'Bring your water pistol and swimming clothes with you, because you're guaranteed to get soaked!' the firefighters said in an Instagram post.
The Portuguese weather service issued a statement Monday night confirming the highest single temperature ever recorded in mainland Portugal for the month of June at 46.6 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit) on June 29 in the town of Mora, west of Lisbon. The prior record was 44.9 degrees Celsius (112 degrees Fahrenheit) in 2017.
Firefighters across Turkey tried to contain wildfires that have forced the evacuation of some 50,000 residents for the third consecutive day.
Temperatures were expected to reach 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) by Wednesday in large parts of the Czech Republic, including the capital.
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The Prague zoo distributed up to 10 metric tons of ice daily across the park, with especial attention given to polar bears native to the Arctic.
Zoo director Miroslav Bobek said twin brother bears Aleut and Gregor looked pleased when they found parts of their open-air enclosure covered with a thick layer of ice Tuesday morning. They rolled on their backs and discovered frozen pieces of squid.
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3 hours ago
- USA Today
Temperature at Wimbledon: How hot is it at British Grand Slam event?
The 2025 Wimbledon Championship has entered its 10th day of competition in London, and that means Grand Slam titles will soon be handed out. And, barring any unforeseen changes, the next few days of tennis at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club are expected to be scorching hot on the all-grass playing court, The Grand Slam event comes to a close on Saturday, July 12 and Sunday, July 13 with the women's singles and men's singles finals, respectively. Here's what you need you need to know about the temperature at Wimbledon on July 9: What is the temperature at Wimbledon? Noted by the Wimbledon website and the BCC, the forecast for the schedule on Wednesday, July 9 at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club is partly cloudy with a high of 79 degrees. The weekend slate at Wimbledon is expected to bring a heatwave, with three consecutive days of at least 30 degrees Celsius or higher (i.e., at least 85 degrees Fahrenheit). Unlike in the United States, the United Kingdom considers a heatwave of three consecutive days of at least 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Here's a full daily forecast for the 138th edition of the Wimbledon Championships through July 13, courtesy of the BCC: Wimbledon hourly weather forecast July 9 Here's the projected hour-by-hour forecast for Wimbledon on July 9, courtesy of The Weather Channel (as of 11:30 a.m. ET on June 8): Wimbledon schedule It's a jam-packed schedule of matches at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club on July 9, as the quarterfinals for both the men's and women's singles, and then the quarterfinals for the men's and women's doubles. To view the specific matchup pairings for June 9 at Wimbledon, click here. Here's a full list of the Wimbledon schedule through July 13: How to watch Wimbledon 2025: TV channel, streaming The 2025 Wimbledon Championships will air across several channels in the ESPN family of networks: ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. Streaming options include ESPN+, ESPN's subscription streaming service, and Fubo, which carries the ESPN family of networks and offers a free trial for new subscribers. The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more. Our team of savvy editors independently handpicks all recommendations. If you purchase through our links, the USA Today Network may earn a commission. Prices were accurate at the time of publication but may change.
8 hours ago
Texas inspectors approved Camp Mystic's disaster plan 2 days before deadly flood, records show
HUNT, Texas -- Texas inspectors signed off on Camp Mystic's emergency planning just two days before catastrophic flooding killed more than two dozen people at the all-girls Christian summer camp, most of them children. The Department of State Health Services released records Tuesday showing the camp complied with a host of state regulations regarding 'procedures to be implemented in case of a disaster.' Among them: instructing campers what to do if they need to evacuate and assigning specific duties to each staff member and counselor. Five years of inspection reports released to The Associated Press do not offer any details of those plans at Mystic, raising new questions about the camp's preparedness ahead of the torrential July 4 rainfall in flood-prone Texas Hill Country. The National Weather Service had issued a flood watch for the area July 3 at 1:18 p.m. That danger prompted at least one of the roughly 18 camps along the Guadalupe River to move dozens of campers to higher ground. The uncertainty about what happened at Mystic comes as local officials have repeatedly dodged questions about who was monitoring the weather and what measures were taken ahead of the flooding. Camp Mystic, established in 1926, did not evacuate and was especially hit hard when the river rose from 14 feet (4.2 meters) to 29.5 feet (9 meters) within 60 minutes in the early morning hours. Flooding on that stretch of the Guadalupe starts at about 10 feet (3 meters). A wall of water overwhelmed people in cabins, tents and trailers along the river's edge. Some survivors were found clinging to trees. At least 27 campers and counselors died during the floods, and officials said Tuesday that five campers and one counselor have still not been found. Among the dead was Richard 'Dick' Eastland, the camp's beloved director described by campers as a father figure. Charlotte Lauten, 19, spent nine summers at Camp Mystic, mostly recently in 2023. She said she didn't recall ever receiving instructions as a camper on what do in the case of a weather emergency. 'I do know that the counselors go through orientation training for a week before camp starts," she said. "They do brief them on all those types of things.' One thing that likely hindered the girls' ability to escape was how dark it would have been, Lauten said. Campers don't have access to their phones while at camp, she said, adding they wouldn't have cell service anyway because of the remote location. 'This is the middle of nowhere and they didn't have power," she said. 'It would have been pitch black, like could not see 5 feet in front of you type of darkness. I've never seen stars like there because there's just no light.' The state inspected Camp Mystic on July 2, the same day the Texas Division of Emergency Management activated emergency response resources ahead of the anticipated flooding. The inspection found no deficiencies or violations at the camp in a long list of health and safety criteria. The camp had 557 campers and more than 100 staffers at the time between its Guadalupe and Cypress Lake locations. The disaster plans are required to be posted in all camp buildings but aren't filed with the state, said Lara Anton, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services. 'We do not have them,' Anton said in an email. 'You'd have to get it from the camp.' Camp Mystic did not respond to requests for comment on its emergency plan. In a statement on its website, the camp said it has been 'in communication with local and state authorities who are tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls.' Camps are responsible for developing their own emergency plan. Inspectors evaluate the plans to ensure they meet several state requirements, including procedures for evacuation. 'The inspector checked that they had plans posted for those elements in every building," Anton said, 'and that they had trained staff and volunteers on what to do.' Camp Mystic is licensed by the state and a member of the Camping Association for Mutual Progress, which says its goal is to 'raise health and safety standards' for summer camps. Leaders of that association didn't return messages. The American Camp Association said Tuesday that Camp Mystic is not accredited with that organization, whose standards focus on safety and risk management. Spokesperson Lauren McMillin declined to say whether the camp previously had been accredited with the association, which describes itself as 'the only nationwide accrediting organization for all year-round and summer camps.' One rain gauge about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from Camp Mystic recorded 9.5 inches (24 centimeters) of precipitation July 4, according to Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority data. Another of the agency's gauges — further south and to the west — recorded 12.2 inches (31 centimeters) of precipitation. The authority told the AP that a review of its equipment found both were functioning during the flood event. However, at least four United States Geological Survey gauges along the Guadalupe River experienced some level of failure July 4. The gauges, located near Hunt and Kerrville, stopped collecting both river levels and the flow rate of water in the early morning hours of July 4. One gauge, about 5 miles (8 kilometers) northeast of Camp Mystic, recorded a level of 29.5 feet (9 meters) at 4:35 a.m., according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data. It was the last recorded river level from the instrumentation until a USGS hydrologist installed a temporary gauge. At the time, the hydrologist measured the high water mark at 37.52 feet (11.44 meters). At that location, a river level of 32 feet (9.75 meters) could lead to 'disastrous life-threatening flooding,' which could cover the roads of the lowest camps and resorts, according to NOAA. ___ This story has been updated to correct that the rain gauge that recorded 9.5 inches (24 centimeters) of precipitation was about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from Camp Mystic, not 1,500 feet (460 meters). ___
8 hours ago
Timeline raises questions over how Texas officials handled warnings before the deadly July 4 flood
Officials in Texas are facing mounting questions about whether they did enough to get people out of harm's way before a flash flood swept down the Guadalupe River and killed more than 100 people, including 27 children and counselors at an all-girls Christian camp. More than 160 people are still believed to be missing in Texas days after flash floods killed over 100 people during the July Fourth weekend, the state's governor said Tuesday. In the days since the devastation, state, federal and Kerr County officials have deflected pointed questions about preparations and warnings. The Associated Press has assembled an approximate timeline of the 48 hours before, during and after the deadly flash flood, beginning with the activation of the state's emergency response resources on July 2 — the same day Texas signed off on the camp's emergency plan for disasters. By daybreak on July Fourth, it was clear that some children from Camp Mystic were swept away by floodwaters even as others were able to escape to safety in their pajamas. ___ The Texas Division of Emergency Management activated state emergency response resources anticipating the threat of flooding in parts of West and Central Texas. On the same day, Texas inspectors signed off on Camp Mystic's emergency planning, records obtained by the AP show. 10:00 a.m.: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Friday that county judges and city mayors were invited to be on a daily call Thursday to discuss weather forecasts. Patrick also said a regional coordinator personally reached out to officials in the area. 'The message was sent,' Patrick said. 'It is up to the local counties and mayors under the law to evacuate if they feel the need.' 1:18 p.m.: The National Weather Service's Austin/San Antonio office issued a flood watch estimating rainfall amounts of one to three inches, with isolated amounts of five to seven inches for parts of south central Texas, including Kerr County. 'Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers,' the alert read. 1:14 a.m.: Citing radar, the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for central Kerr County until 4:15 a.m., warning that it was life threatening. Around 3:00 a.m.: Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said he was running on the river trail around 3 or 3:30 a.m. Friday and 'everything was fine.' 'Four o'clock when I left, there was no signs of it rising at that point," Rice said during a news conference later. "This happened very quickly over a very short amount of time.' Rice said the isolated location and the heavy rain in a short period of time made a dangerous event that was not predictable, even with radar and National Weather Service warnings. 'This is not like a tornado where you can have a siren. This is not like a hurricane where you're planning weeks in advance,' Rice said. 'It hit. It hit hard.' Between 3 and 5 a.m.: Floodwaters begin to inundate Camp Mystic. Young campers, counselors and staff are roused from sleep and begin a desperate rush to higher ground, according to social media accounts. The accounts detail how some young girls had to climb through cabin windows. One staffer said she was on the roof with water rising toward her at 4:00 a.m. 3:30 a.m.: Erin Burgess woke up to thunder at around 3:30 a.m. Friday in her home in Bumble Bee Hills, a housing development about halfway between Hunt and Ingram. Within a half hour or so, she told the AP that the water was rushing into her house. Burgess and her 19-year-old son clung onto a tree outside for an hour before the water receded. 3:35 a.m.: The National Weather Service extended its flash flood warning for central Kerr County until 7 a.m. based on radar and automated gauges. 3:35 a.m.: A U.S. Geological Survey gauge along the Guadalupe River about five miles north of Camp Mystic and about a mile east of Hunt shows the river had reached nearly 16 feet. The river at that location is subject to minor flooding at 10 feet. Between 4 and 5 a.m.: Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said he was first notified about the situation from one of his sergeants. 4:03 a.m.: The National Weather Service named a flash flood emergency for south-central Kerr County, saying in all caps that it was a "particularly dangerous situation. Seek higher ground now!' Citing radar and automated rain gauges, the bulletin said low water crossings and the Guadalupe River at Hunt were flooding. 4:35 a.m.: A U,S, Geological Survey gauge along the Guadalupe River about five miles north of Camp Mystic and about a mile east of Hunt stops sending data. The last recorded river level from the instrumentation was 29.5 feet. 5:30 a.m.: Police knocked on Matthew Stone's door in a Kerrville riverfront neighborhood, urging residents to evacuate. Stone said he had received no emergency warning on his phone. 'We got no emergency alert. There was nothing,' Stone said. Then: 'a pitch black wall of death.' 5:34 a.m.: The National Weather Service bulletin reported a flash flood emergency from Hunt through Kerrville and Center Point, saying 'automated rain gauges indicate a large and deadly flood wave is moving down the Guadalupe River.' 5:38 a.m.: In a comment on a Facebook post from the Kerr County Sheriff's Office, one woman begged for someone to help her mother-in-law who was trapped in a trailer between Hunt and Ingram. 5:52 a.m.: Minutes later, another woman commented on the same Facebook post that Bumble Bee Hills was flooded and needed help. 6:06 a.m.: The National Weather Service extended the flash flood warning until 10:00 a.m. The bulletin also said local law enforcement reported 'major flooding' and water rescues along the Guadalupe River. 6:19 a.m.: Another Facebook commenter on the Kerr County Sheriff's page said a 'friend and her family are on their rooftop in Hunt, waiting for rescue.' 6:45 a.m.: A U.S. Geological Survey gauge in Kerrville shows the Guadalupe River peaks at 34.29 feet, a figure that is preliminary and subject to change. It is the third-highest river level at that location, according to the data. The record of 39 feet was set on July 2, 1932, 6:59 a.m.: Erin Burgess was surveying damage in her flooded home after the river water receded. The line of muck reached halfway up her kitchen cabinets. 7:24 a.m.: The National Weather Service advises that the flash flood emergency extends to Sisterdale. 11:29 a.m.: Camp Mystic parents receive an email noting the grounds have 'sustained catastrophic level floods' and that they are without power, water and internet. Parents with a daughter not accounted for were directly contacted, the camp said. 11:30 a.m.: Local officials held the first press conference to describe the situation and response. Asked what kind of warning system went out to make sure county residents got out safely, Judge Rob Kelly, the county's chief elected official said: 'We do not have a warning system.' When a reporter followed up to ask why camps weren't evacuated when the camps were in harm's way, Kelly said they didn't know 'this flood' was coming. 'We had no reason to believe that this was going to be any, anything like what's happened here,' Kelly said. 'None whatsoever.' 3:30 p.m.: Two news conferences on Friday afternoon were the first to offer an initial death toll. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said six to 10 bodies had been found so far. Around the same time, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha reported that 13 people had died in the flooding. Patrick also announced that the whereabouts of about 23 girls attending Camp Mystic were not known. 7:11 p.m.: A state agency responsible for search and rescue operations, the Texas Game Wardens, post on Facebook that they made entry into Camp Mystic and 'are evacuating the campers to safety.' Roughly two dozen campers were still missing.
