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Bloomberg
10-07-2025
- Health
- Bloomberg
Extreme Heat Is Killing European Workers Despite Government Efforts
Montse Aguilar was a healthy 51-year-old woman when she started her shift cleaning streets in Barcelona at around 2:30pm on June 28. The Spanish city was under alert for high temperatures amid a brutal heat wave that brought record temperatures for that time of the year across the country. She was responsible for sweeping one of the hottest, dirtiest and more touristic areas — the Raval district. At the end of the shift, at around 9:30pm, she walked back home and asked her elderly mother to prepare dinner because she wasn't feeling well. She also messaged a friend and told him she felt cramps in her arms, chest and neck, her brother-in-law Manuel Ceacero told Bloomberg Green.

CBC
01-07-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Barcelona records hottest June in more than 100 years as blistering heat wave grips Europe
Barcelona recorded its hottest month of June since records started more than a century ago, Spain's national weather service said on Tuesday as Europe remained in the grip of the first major heat wave this summer. The Can Fabra Observatory, located on a hill overlooking Barcelona, reported an average temperature of 26 C, breaking records since 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 C for June was recorded on 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 first heat wave of the year. Health warnings were in effect Tuesday in several European Union countries even as conditions began to improve in some parts of the region. Punishing temperatures were forecast to reach 40 C in Paris and to stay unusually high in Belgium and the Netherlands. In contrast, temperatures were falling in Portugal, where no red heat warnings were issued. Spain saw a new high mark for June established on Saturday when 46 C was recorded in the southern province of Huelva, while Sunday's national average of 28 C set a record for a high temperature for June 29 since records were started in 1950. "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, the regional delegate for Spain's weather service in Barcelona, told The Associated Press on Tuesday. WATCH | Tourists look for shade as parts of Europe grapple with heat wave: Europe sweltering under early summer heat dome 23 hours ago Duration 4:01 Major cities and tourist destinations across Europe are recording unusually high temperatures as June draws to a close. In southern Europe, the hot, dry weather created conditions for wildfires. In France, the national weather agency Météo-France placed several departments under the highest red alert, with the Paris region particularly hard hit. The heat wave, defined as consecutive days of very high temperature, is expected to intensify Tuesday with more than 1,300 schools set to be partially or fully closed, the Education Ministry said. 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. Météo-France also warned of the heightened risk of wildfires due to the drought-stricken soil, compounded by a lack of rain in June and the recent surge in temperature. Climate experts warn that future summers are likely to be hotter than any recorded to date. By 2100, France could be up to 4 C warmer, with temperatures exceeding 40 C expected every year and extreme heat spikes potentially reaching 50 C. According to Météo-France, the country may face a tenfold increase in the number of heat wave days by 2100. 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. The CGIL labour union said the death of the man, whom it identified as Ait El Hajjam Brahim, owner of Veneto Pavimenti SAS, showed the need for improved measures to protect construction workers from heat exposure. An annual event in Amsterdam to commemorate the end of slavery in former Dutch colonies was moved forward to avoid the hottest part of the day and in the northern city of Groningen, organizers of an outdoor concert featuring veteran rocker Neil Young also took measures, including adding extra drinking water taps and providing free sunblock. The national weather institute issued an alert for extreme temperatures and smog in parts of the country and warned the eastern Netherlands that severe thunderstorms could break out on Wednesday as the hot weather ends. In Portugal, Lisbon was forecast to reach 33 C, typical for this time of the year, though some inland areas could still see peaks of 43 C, according to the national weather agency. June temperature records were broken in two locations in Portugal on June 29.


Reuters
01-07-2025
- Climate
- Reuters
Barcelona investigates street sweeper's death as Spain swelters in heatwave
BARCELONA, July 1 (Reuters) - Spanish authorities are investigating whether a street sweeper's death over the weekend in Barcelona was caused by an intense heatwave gripping the country and region, the city council said late on Monday. The woman, who had been cleaning the old town in Barcelona on Saturday afternoon, died later that day at home, her sister told the Antena 3 TV station. Her sister said the 51-year-old woman, identified just as Montserrat, had told a colleague she thought she "was dying." Temperatures reached 30.4 degrees Celsius (86.7 degrees Fahrenheit) in Barcelona on Saturday, weather agency AEMET said. Extreme heat can kill by causing heat stroke, or aggravating cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, with older people being among the most vulnerable. The City council said on Monday it would investigate the woman's death. Last year, there were 2,032 deaths attributable to heat in Spain, according to the Health Ministry. That number was still lower than heat-linked fatalities in 2023 and 2022. The first heatwave of the summer hit Spain during the weekend and is set to last until Tuesday.


Malay Mail
02-06-2025
- Climate
- Malay Mail
Summer hits early as Spain logs 24.08°C in hottest May day on record
BARCELONA, June 2 — Mainland Spain experienced its hottest May day ever on Friday, with the average temperature surpassing 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit), national weather agency AEMET said on Monday. The average temperature across the country hit 24.08C, breaking the previous record for the month of 23.73C set on May 21, 2022, according to provisional data from the agency. 'This was the hottest day for a month of May across mainland Spain since the beginning of the data series in 1950,' AEMET wrote on social media. The average temperature on Saturday reached 23.91C, making it the second-hottest May day on record. A mass of hot air moving north from Africa pushed temperatures in some areas of Spain more than 10C above normal for the time of the year. Temperatures exceeded 40C in parts of southern region of Andalusia. While unusual, this is not the first time Spain has experienced exceptionally high May temperatures. Similar events occurred in 2015 and 2022, AEMET said. 'This reflects a scenario where summer-like conditions are arriving earlier and more frequently, even before spring has ended,' said AEMET spokesperson Ruben del Campo. Scientists say climate change driven by human activity is increasing the length, frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as heatwaves. The last three years have been the hottest on record in Spain, which is emerging from a years-long drought. — AFP