France shuts schools as heatwave grips Europe
The Mediterranean Sea was up to 6 degrees Celsius warmer than usual for the time of year, hitting a record of as much as 30 C (86 F) in Spain's Balearic Sea as a heat dome trapped hot air above Europe, the country's Aemet weather forecaster said. Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent, heating up at twice the global average, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service, making extreme heatwaves occur earlier in the year, and persist into later months. In France, the heat was set to peak on Tuesday, reaching 40-41 C in some areas and 36-39 C in most others, weather forecaster Meteo France said.
Sixteen departments will be on the highest level of alert from noon, with 68 on the second highest. Some 1,350 schools will be fully or partially closed due to the heat, up significantly from around 200 on Monday, the Education Ministry said. The top floor of the Eiffel Tower will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, with visitors advised to drink plenty of water. The extreme heat also raised the risk of field fires as farmers in France, the European Union's biggest grain producer, start harvesting this year's crop.
Some farmers were working through the night to avoid harvesting during peak temperatures in the afternoon. In the Indre region of central France, which has seen a spate of field fires since late June, authorities banned field work between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.
HEALTH ALERTS
The intense heat could harm biodiversity, some experts said. "In the past we have seen impacts like mass mortalities of invertebrate species, die-offs of seagrass beds and disease outbreaks in mussel farms. It's likely that we'll see similar impacts from this event," said scientist Kathryn Smith of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.
Health alerts have been issued across Europe, with residents and tourists alike seeking ways to keep cool. Extreme heat kills up to 480,000 people annually around the world, according to Swiss Re, which notes this exceeds the combined toll from floods, earthquakes and hurricanes. In a retirement home in Grimbergen, Belgium, residents passed a ball to each other in a paddling pool.
"To me it's a great activity," said Marie-Jeanne Olbrechts, one of the residents. The DGG association for geriatric care in Germany said most regions of the country were not adequately prepared for a heatwave. "If they were, they could prevent tens of thousands of deaths in the future," said Clemens Becker, author of a study conducted on behalf of the DGG. Scientists say greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels are a key cause of climate change, with deforestation and industrial practices being other contributing factors. Last year was the planet's hottest on record.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
4 hours ago
- Observer
Greece wildfire rages on Crete
ATHENS: A wildfire fanned by gale-force winds on the southern Greek island of Crete has forced the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists, officials said on Thursday. Hot dry weather in Greece — not unusual for this time of year — has heightened the risk of a repeat of summer wildfires that have hit the country in recent years, while Turkey, although spared from the recent heatwaves that gripped southern Europe, has battled the effects of a long-term drought brought on by climate change. On Crete, about 5,000 people were evacuated in response to a blaze that broke out on Wednesday evening, the president of the regional hotels' association said on Thursday. Yorgos Tzarakis said about 3,000 tourists and 2,000 residents had been moved, mostly overnight, as a "precaution" from areas close to the Crete resort town of Ierapetra. Earlier, vice-prefect Yannis Androulakis told Greek broadcaster Mega confirmed "evacuations took place in numerous hotels and tourists were safely transferred to a closed gymnasium in the municipality of Ierapetra," in the southeast. The authorities acted because water bomber planes could not reach the affected areas overnight, he added. "At the moment, there are three active fronts," Androulakis said. "Because of the strong winds, the fire has progressed quite rapidly." Around 270 firefighters, 10 helicopters and drones have been deployed to tackle the blaze, said Vassilios Vathrakoyannis, a spokesman for the fire service. They include reinforcements sent in from the capital, Athens. "There are still a number of different fronts. The fire is burning scrubland and crops," he said. "The winds are very strong -- up to nine on the Beaufort scale." In Crete, Greece's largest island, the arid, uneven landscape criss-crossed by gullies, has made it difficult for firefighters to tackle the blaze. The fire damaged houses and crops in fruit and vegetable greenhouses, media reports said. Like the rest of Crete, Ierapetra — a seaside resort with a population of 23,000 — takes in thousands of tourists in the summer. The risk of fires was "considerable" in July, the hottest month of the year in Greece, Vathrakoyannis said. The country recorded its hottest-ever summer last year when 45,000 hectares of land was burned, according to WWF Greece and the Athens National Observatory. In terms of surface area destroyed, 2023 was the worst on record. Nearly 175,000 hectares were obliterated and 20 people died during heatwaves when temperatures rose in places to 46 degrees Celsius. — AFP
Observer
a day ago
- Observer
Two dead as France registers second-hottest June on record
Paris: Two people died in France as a result of "heat-related illness", said the minister for ecological transition on Wednesday, as the country registered its second-hottest June since records began in 1900. A heatwave across Europe this week broke high temperature records, leading to the closure of nearly 2,000 schools in France at midday on Tuesday. "More than 300 people have been treated by firefighters and two have died following heat-related illnesses," ecology minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said on Wednesday. "June 2025 has become the second hottest June since records began in 1900, behind June 2003," she added. T emperatures in June 2025 were 3.3 degrees Celsius higher than the seasonal average compared to 3.6 degrees Celsius in June 2003, her office said. Meteo-France said June 30 was the hottest day in June since measurements began in 1947, beating the previous record set in 2019. Relief will start to arrive from the Atlantic on Wednesday, bringing thunderstorms and cooler temperatures to parts of western Europe.
Observer
a day ago
- Observer
France shuts schools as heatwave grips Europe
PARIS/MADRID: More than a thousand schools were closed in France on Tuesday and the top floor of the Eiffel Tower was shut to tourists as a severe heatwave continued to grip Europe, triggering health alerts across the region. The Mediterranean Sea was up to 6 degrees Celsius warmer than usual for the time of year, hitting a record of as much as 30 C (86 F) in Spain's Balearic Sea as a heat dome trapped hot air above Europe, the country's Aemet weather forecaster said. Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent, heating up at twice the global average, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service, making extreme heatwaves occur earlier in the year, and persist into later months. In France, the heat was set to peak on Tuesday, reaching 40-41 C in some areas and 36-39 C in most others, weather forecaster Meteo France said. Sixteen departments will be on the highest level of alert from noon, with 68 on the second highest. Some 1,350 schools will be fully or partially closed due to the heat, up significantly from around 200 on Monday, the Education Ministry said. The top floor of the Eiffel Tower will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, with visitors advised to drink plenty of water. The extreme heat also raised the risk of field fires as farmers in France, the European Union's biggest grain producer, start harvesting this year's crop. Some farmers were working through the night to avoid harvesting during peak temperatures in the afternoon. In the Indre region of central France, which has seen a spate of field fires since late June, authorities banned field work between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. HEALTH ALERTS The intense heat could harm biodiversity, some experts said. "In the past we have seen impacts like mass mortalities of invertebrate species, die-offs of seagrass beds and disease outbreaks in mussel farms. It's likely that we'll see similar impacts from this event," said scientist Kathryn Smith of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. Health alerts have been issued across Europe, with residents and tourists alike seeking ways to keep cool. Extreme heat kills up to 480,000 people annually around the world, according to Swiss Re, which notes this exceeds the combined toll from floods, earthquakes and hurricanes. In a retirement home in Grimbergen, Belgium, residents passed a ball to each other in a paddling pool. "To me it's a great activity," said Marie-Jeanne Olbrechts, one of the residents. The DGG association for geriatric care in Germany said most regions of the country were not adequately prepared for a heatwave. "If they were, they could prevent tens of thousands of deaths in the future," said Clemens Becker, author of a study conducted on behalf of the DGG. Scientists say greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels are a key cause of climate change, with deforestation and industrial practices being other contributing factors. Last year was the planet's hottest on record.
