French Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu has bemoaned the rise in the number of drownings as people across the country sought respite from the record-breaking heatwave sweeping across much of Europe.
He disclosed that forty people have drowned while swimming in unsupervised areas across France in recent days.
“There is a tragic scourge of drownings. The latest figures we’ve received are 40 deaths since 18 June. Most of the victims are young people.”
Sébastien Lecornu
Lecornu made the remarks as he was preparing to chair a crisis meeting with Ministers to address the fierce early summer heatwave that has left parts of western France bracing for temperatures of up to 43C (109F).
“We’re experiencing an episode of exceptional intensity. Every day and every night, local and national temperature records are being broken.”
Sébastien Lecornu
The national weather service, Météo-France, said that 54 departments had been placed under a red heatwave alert as “oppressive and exhausting” heat smothered about half of the country. It said that overnight temperatures were the hottest since record-keeping began in 1947.
Early today, France’s national heat index, an average of the day and night-time highs measured at 30 weather stations across France, reached a record 21.6C, according to preliminary figures. The previous record of 21.4C was set on 25 July 2019.
Officials in the greater Paris region advised people to work from home as much as possible and avoid rail journeys. The Head of the Île-de-France region, Valérie Pécresse, told journalists, “The transport network comes under severe strain in periods of extreme heat … railways cannot withstand temperatures above 50 degrees.”
The heat, which on Monday forced the closure of about 1,350 schools and was believed to be linked to the deaths of two young children in their family car, is forecast to continue until the end of the week. “Further record-breaking temperatures are expected, including some that could surpass all previous records, regardless of the time of year,” Météo-France said.
High Temperatures Extending Across Swathes Of Europe
Meanwhile, sweltering temperatures are extending across swathes of Europe.
In England, some schools closed early today as the UK braced for the heatwave to set new records. With temperatures expected to soar to 40C, the Met Office issued its second ever red heat warning.
In Italy, the Health Minister declared a red heatwave alert in 15 cities including Milan and Rome. In Germany, officials said that swimming accidents had spiked over the weekend, leading to the deaths of five people.
Nearly all of Spain was under a heat alert today, with red alerts warning of “extraordinary danger” issued for areas around the southern city of Córdoba, the northern city of Bilbao and parts of the northern region of Cantabria. Yesterday, 101 of the 828 weather stations across Spain recorded temperatures of 40C or higher. At about 30 stations, temperatures remained above 25C overnight into today, underlining the intensity of the heatwave.
The situation was more severe in the south-eastern province of Almería, where temperatures had not dipped below 30C overnight for three consecutive nights. The barrage of heat dominated local headlines. “More than 72 hours above 30 degrees Celsius,” noted La Voz de Almería. In another article, the newspaper highlighted the consequences: “Almería doesn’t sleep: a hellish night of temperatures above 30C and highs exceeding 40C.”
According to Clair Barnes, a Climate Scientist at Imperial College London, the sweltering temperatures extending across swathes of Europe are caused by a bulging mass of hot air. “It’s drawing warm air up from north Africa, from the Sahara, and that’s why we have this really intense heat,” Barnes told a news agency. “It’s very slow moving and it means there’s kind of no wind, no breeze for respite,” Barnes added.
The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, said in an address to a London Climate Action Week event, “London isn’t just calling. It’s cooking.”
He urged the world to work towards limiting global warming. “A climate crisis is pushing us deeper towards higher temperatures and closer to catastrophic tipping points, and an energy crisis is exposing the folly of a world hooked on hydrocarbons,” he said.
He added that on the surface, “these crises may seem separate, but they share the same destructive origin: fossil fuels.”
This week is yet another brutal reminder that European heat is becoming both more severe and more frequent. It marks the second record-breaking heat wave in two straight months, with the potential for national all-time temperature records to be broken before Europe even reaches July, typically its hottest month.
READ ALSO: Ghana, England Target Early Knockout Berth in Crucial Boston Showdown
