Mediterranean sea temperature breaks records
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RTÉ News
2 days ago
- RTÉ News
Mediterranean sea temperature breaks records
Samantha Burgess, Strategic Lead for Climate at ECMWF, discusses marine heatwaves as the Mediterranean sea reaches record-breaking temperatures.
Irish Independent
3 days ago
- Irish Independent
Heatwave: Spain summer temperatures breaks records as 50,000 flee Turkey wildfires
Health alerts were issued in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Germany as well as in England and Wales. Even the Netherlands, used to a milder climate, issued a warning for high temperatures in the coming days coupled with high humidity. 'Large parts of western Europe are experiencing extreme heat and heatwave conditions that are normally observed in July or August, rather than June,' said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service. Temperatures in some locations were between five and 10 degrees Celsius warmer than they would typically be at this time of year, she said. New highs are expected on Wednesday, before rain is forecast to bring respite to some areas later this week. 'Extreme heat is no longer a rare event – it has become the new normal,' tweeted UN secretary general Antonio Guterres. 'The planet is getting hotter & more dangerous – no country is immune.' In Portugal – Mr Guterres's home country – a temperature reading in Mora, about 60 miles east of Lisbon, turned up a suspected record-high June temperature of 46.6 C (115.9F) on Sunday. In Turkey, wildfires raged for a second day near Izmir, fanned by strong winds. More than 50,000 people have been evacuated from five regions, including more than 42,000 in Izmir, according to the country's emergency management authority, AFAD. In France, where temperatures are expected to peak on Tuesday and Wednesday, wildfires burned in the southwestern Aude department, where temperatures topped 40C, destroying 400 hectares and forcing the evacuation of a campsite and an abbey. Weather service Meteo France put a record 84 of the country's 101 departments on an orange heatwave alert until midweek. Spain is on course for its hottest June on record, the national meteorological service AEMET said. 'Over the next few days, at least until Thursday, intense heat will continue in much of Spain,' said Ruben del Campo, a spokesperson for the weather agency. In Seville, where global leaders gathered for a United Nations conference, temperatures hit 42C. 'It's awful,' municipal worker Bernabe Rufo said as he cleaned a fountain. 'We need to be looking for shade constantly.' In Italy, the health ministry issued heatwave red alerts for 16 cities, including Rome and Milan. Lombardy is planning to ban open-air work during the hottest part of the day in response to a request from trade unions. In Germany, too, heat warnings were in place across large parts of western and southwestern regions, where temperatures climbed to 34C. Authorities appealed to consumers to limit their use of water. The heatwave has lowered the water level of the River Rhine, hampering shipping and raising freight costs for cargo owners, commodity traders said. German and French baseload power prices surged as the heatwave led to increased demand for air conditioning. 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, insurance company Swiss Re said earlier this month.
RTÉ News
3 days ago
- RTÉ News
France expecting peak temperatures as heatwave hits Europe
Paris is on red alert for high temperatures, with the top of the Eiffel Tower shut, polluting traffic banned and speed restrictions in place as a searing heatwave grips Europe. Mediterranean countries from the Iberian peninsula through France and Italy to the Balkans and Greece have been sweltering in a heatwave for several days, prompting health warnings and alerts about increased risk of wildfires. Scientists say human-induced climate change is making such heatwave events more intense, frequent and widespread. Temperatures in France are expected to hit a peak today, according to the Meteo France weather agency, with the highest extreme heat warning in place in 16 departments across the country. A total of 68 others were on the second-highest level. Meteo France forecast very high minimums ranging from 20-24C "or slightly higher in some localised areas, and maximums reaching 36 to 40C with some peaks at 41C". Operators of the Eiffel Tower shut the summit of the 330-metre high landmark yesterday and said it would remain closed today and tomorrow "due to the current heatwave". Access to the first and second floors remained open but operators still urged caution. "Remember to protect yourself from the sun and stay hydrated. Water fountains are available in the walkways leading to the esplanade," they said. Across the Ile-de-France region which includes Paris, police said all but the least polluting vehicles would be banned from the roads from 5.30am local time until midnight because of high ozone pollution levels. Speed limits of 20km/h would also remain in some places. Across the country, the government said it expected nearly 1,350 schools to be partially or completely shut - nearly double the number yesterday - with teachers complaining of overheated and unventilated classrooms making students unwell. Warnings were issued for young children, older people and those with chronic illnesses. "Heatwaves are deadly," said Akshay Deoras, a research scientist at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science and Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading, west of London. "We need to treat extreme heat with the same seriousness we give to dangerous storms." Roll cloud Portugal will see some respite today after two days on red alert in several regions, including Lisbon, and warnings will be downgraded to orange alert in all but eight areas inland. But temperatures were still expected to reach 40C in the central city of Castel Branco, Beja and Evora in the south, and 34C in the capital. The national meteorological agency IPMA said those on the beaches in northern and central Portugal would have seen a rare "roll cloud" blown towards the coast yesterday. Images shared on social networks showed a huge horizontal cloud heading from the horizon towards the shore, accompanied by a violent gust of wind when it reached land. "The most frightening thing was the wind and everything becoming dark," one swimmer told online media outlet ZAP. "It was very strange. We all started packing up our things and running. It looked like a tsunami." Similar temperatures in the high 30s to mid 40s were forecast in Spain after they soared to 46C in the south - a new record for June, according to the national weather agency. Red alerts have been issued for 18 Italian cities in the coming days, including Rome, Milan, Verona, Perugia and Palermo, as well as across the Adriatic on the Croatian coast and Montenegro. Italy also experienced another type of extreme weather event yesterday when a flash flood in the northern region of Piedmont caused by heavy rains killed a 70-year-old man. "We are increasingly faced with emergency situations due to weather events that we used to call exceptional but are now more and more frequent," said the president of the region, Alberto Cirio, on social media. The Mediterranean Sea itself recorded a new June high of 26.01C on Sunday, according to French weather service scientist Thibault Guinaldo, citing data from EU monitor Copernicus. The risk of forest fires remains high in a number of Portuguese regions. Last night, some 250 firefighters were tackling a blaze in the southern Aljustrel area. In Turkey, rescuers evacuated more than 50,000 people threatened by a string of wildfires, most from the western province of Izmir, where winds of 120km/h fanned the blazes. Greece has also been tackling wildfires.
