Europeans are being scorched by record-high temperatures with lives lost, power outages and strains on health systems across the continent. Scientists said the scale and intensity of the current heatwave underscore the growing impact of climate change.
A record-shattering heatwave has tightened its grip on Europe, leaving casualties, causing power outages, forcing landmarks to close or reduce opening hours, and straining health systems, as scientists warned the continent is entering a new era of extreme summers driven by climate change.
RECORDS FALL ACROSS CONTINENT
France bore the brunt of the heatwave. The mercury hit 40.3 degrees Celsius in Paris on Wednesday, while temperatures climbed as high as 43.8 degrees Celsius elsewhere. A top-level red alert was issued for a record 58 departments, covering most of the country, as the Meteo-France weather agency warned of a high risk of wildfires amid worsening drought.
Germany was not far behind. On Saturday, temperatures reached 41.5 degrees Celsius in the eastern community of Moeckern-Drewitz, setting a new national record, according to the German Weather Service. It marked the second straight day Germany broke its previous all-time high of 41.2 degrees Celsius, set in July 2019.
In Spain, where Xinhua correspondents reported sweltering conditions across the interior, the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) forecast temperatures to reach 44 degrees Celsius in parts of Cordoba province, with the heat dome extending across much of the Iberian Peninsula. Heat warnings were also issued for parts of the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Austria.
The heatwave has already spread to high-latitude countries rarely associated with extreme summer heat. In Lithuania and Latvia, national weather services forecast highs of 30 to 35 degrees Celsius over the coming days -- the most intense heat the two Baltic States have seen this summer.
LIVES LOST, SYSTEMS STRAINED
The human cost has been severe. In Poland, at least 30 people have drowned since early June as soaring temperatures drove many to rivers and lakes to seek relief.
In France, at least 40 people have drowned amid the heatwave, with Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu describing the deaths, mostly among young people, as a "tragic scourge."
In Italy, a 61-year-old farmworker was found dead in a vineyard in Piacenza after working through the morning heat, while a homeless man died in Naples, where temperatures reached 33 degrees Celsius.
The strain on health systems has been acute. In Paris, 25 cardiac arrests were recorded within 24 hours on Wednesday, compared with fewer than 10 on a normal day, prompting authorities to activate the highest level of France's emergency health plan. Italy also reported a rise in emergency room visits as a result of the heatwave.
In Portugal, the national medical emergency institute reported roughly 6,000 more emergency calls in June compared with the same period last year. At a hospital in Porto, emergency nurse Maria Santos told Xinhua: "Almost every day, we treat people suffering from dehydration, dizziness, low blood pressure and even heatstroke. Many of them are elderly, while others are children or people with chronic illnesses."
The broader public health impact is also becoming clearer. French health authorities said Sunday that preliminary data showed around 1,000 more deaths than expected had been recorded nationwide since June 24 when compared with previous months, underscoring the mounting toll of the prolonged heatwave. Officials said the figures remain provisional and may be subject to further consolidation.
The extreme heat also disrupted infrastructure. Power outages hit parts of Italy and western France, while the German rail operator Deutsche Bahn warned of delays due to risks to tracks, signals, and overhead power lines and offered free ticket cancellations for long-distance passengers.
FROM IBERIA TO BALKANS: A CONTINENT ON ALERT
Governments across the continent scrambled to protect their populations.
In Portugal, hospital contingency plans were activated and emergency medical services reinforced, with particular attention given to the elderly, children and people with chronic illness.
In the northern Portuguese city of Vila Real, parents staged a protest outside a primary school after classroom temperatures exceeded 30 degrees Celsius. At the scorched shale village of Talasnal in central Portugal, still bearing the blackened scars of last year's wildfire, local staff member Rafaela told Xinhua: "We are very worried that a similar situation could happen again. At the height of last year's fire, the entire village was closed for more than half a month."
Croatia issued red weather alerts -- the highest warning level -- for the coastal regions of Rijeka and Split, while Tomislav Tomasevic, mayor of the capital Zagreb, announced that admission to the city's public swimming pools would be free over the weekend.
In Hungary, authorities upgraded the nationwide heat alert to its highest third-degree level from June 27 through June 30, with temperatures in some areas forecast to reach 40 to 41 degrees Celsius. Since the first alert was issued, firefighters have responded to nearly 100 callouts, mostly to check on elderly residents living alone who had not been responding to relatives or neighbors.
Bosnia and Herzegovina on Saturday issued an orange heat warning across the country, as temperatures are expected to reach up to 40 degrees Celsius over the next several days, while firefighters continue battling multiple fires fueled by hot and dry weather.
"A NEW CLIMATE NORMAL"
Scientists said the scale and intensity of the current heatwave underscore the growing impact of climate change.
Wim Thiery, a climate scientist and contributing author to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report, said the current heatwave is about 200 times more likely to occur than it would have been two decades ago because of global warming. Peter Hoffmann, a meteorologist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said rising global temperatures are making record-breaking heat increasingly likely, while Julian Krueger of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology said some of today's extreme heat events would not have occurred without climate change.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said Europe is the fastest-warming continent, with temperatures rising at roughly twice the global average. Armel Castellan, Extreme Heat Services Technical Advisor at the WMO and World Health Organization (WHO) Climate and Health Joint Office, warned that persistently warm nights pose a particular health risk because they prevent the human body from recovering from daytime heat stress.
The economic toll is also mounting. A report by Allianz Trade estimated that France alone could lose up to 210 billion euros (about 247 billion U.S. dollars) over the next five years if heatwaves become more frequent, largely due to reduced labor productivity. In Germany, soaring demand for air conditioning, coupled with weaker solar power generation after sunset, has pushed electricity spot prices to their highest level this year.
Speaking during London Climate Week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that climate disasters are becoming more frequent, more destructive and more costly after what he described as the world's 11 hottest years on record.
The WMO forecast that the current heatwave would shift toward the Balkans in the coming days while much of Western Europe remained under intense heat, underscoring the mounting climate challenges facing the continent.
