France BANS some outdoor event as record-breaking 40C heatwave hits
France BANS outdoor events as parts of the country hit 40C as record-breaking heatwave sweeps Europe with a number of hospitals ‘at capacity’ and schoolchildren in ‘red alert’ areas told to stay at home
- France banned outdoor events while Spain battled to contain forest fires that forced hundreds from homes
- Temperatures were around the mid-30s in both while the mercury hit 44C in Montpellier and 46C in Bilbao
- French health minister said it has also seen ‘hospitals at capacity’, but keeping up with demand as the heat hit
A punishing heatwave broke a string of records in France today which banned outdoor events as a heatwave swept across Europe.
Temperatures were seen to hit around the mid-30s in Spain and France today – expected to hit the 40s in most areas – while the mercury has topped 44C in Montpellier and 46C in Bilbao.
The French health minister said it has also seen ‘hospitals at capacity, but keeping up with demand’ as the ‘earliest heatwave ever recorded’ in 75 years hit.
In Gironde, southwest of France, public events outdoors have been banned ‘until the heatwave ends’. Indoor events at venues without air-conditioning are also prohibited, but private celebrations, such as weddings, are still allowed.
Meanwhile schoolchildren in the 12 ‘red alert’ areas were told to stay home, and care home residents were rotated through air-conditioned rooms.
‘Everyone now faces a health risk,’ local official Fabienne Buccio told France Bleu radio.
In Spain, forest fires burned up to 7,000 hectares (17,300 acres) of land in the northwest Sierra de la Culebra region today, forcing some 200 people from their homes.
‘Avoid over-exposing to the sun, hydrate and take care of the most vulnerable so they don’t suffer from heat stroke,’ was the advice from Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Madrid.
The UK recorded its hottest day of the year today with temperatures reaching over 30C – expected to climb to 34C – in the early afternoon, forecasters also said.
PARIS: A punishing heatwave broke a string of records in France today which banned outdoor events as Spain battled to contain forest fires that forced hundreds from their homes. Pictured: A sunbather sits near a fountain in front of The Louvre Pyramid in Paris
SPAIN: Temperatures were seen to hit around the mid-30s in both the countries while the mercury hit 44C in Montpellier and 46C in Bilbao. Pictured: Tourists drink from a fountain as near record temperatures hit Bilbao
In France, temperatures also climbed today with one third of French departments at the highest or second-highest heat alert level as much of country’s southwest will see thermometers top 40C, prompting warnings for the vulnerable.
‘Hospitals are at capacity, but are keeping up with demand,’ Health Minister Brigitte Bourguignon told reporters in Vienne, near Lyon in the southeast.
Schoolchildren have been told to stay at home in the 12 departments at alert level ‘red’ and the health ministry activated a special heatwave hotline.
‘This is the earliest heatwave ever recorded in France’ since 1947, said Matthieu Sorel, a climatologist at weather authority Meteo France.
With ‘many monthly or even all-time temperature records likely to be beaten in several regions,’ he called the unseasonable weather a ‘marker of climate change’.
SPAIN: Temperatures in Spain were above 35C Friday in most parts of the country and will top 40C in some areas. Pictured: A bare-chested runner passes tourists as near record temperatures continue to affect the country, in Bilbao today
SPAIN: Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez praised firefighters ‘who risk their lives on the frontline of fires’ today, which is also World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. Pictured: People walk near a sign indicating 43C today as near record temperatures continue to affect the country, in Bilbao
In France, special measures have been taken in care homes for elderly people, still marked by the memory of a deadly 2003 heatwave. Pictured: A plant grows on a dry bank of the Loire River, in Montjean-sur-Loire yesterday
SPAIN: Firefighters in Spain were also battling fires in several other regions, including woodlands in Catalonia where weather conditions complicated the fight. Pictured: A plane drops water onto a wildfire near Lladurs
In France, special measures have been taken in care homes for elderly people, still marked by the memory of a deadly 2003 heatwave.
Buildings are being sprayed down with water to cool them and residents are being rotated through air-conditioned rooms.
‘We’re taking even more care than usual with the old folks. It’s tough for them. They’re often alone, worn down physically and unable to act independently,’ said Sarah Jalabert, a nurse making home visits in the Tarn department.
‘I’m 86 years old, I was born here, but I think this is the worst heatwave I’ve ever seen,’ Jacqueline Bonnaud also told the AFP news agency in the southern city of Toulouse.
FRANCE: Swimmers enjoy the waters of the River Le Clain at Liguge in Vienne Department, south of Poitiers, central France today, as a heatwave sweeps across much of France and Europe
Pictured: Children play with the sand and water of the Berkendonk recreational lake in Helmond, the Netherlands today
Pictured: Passengers ride on a tour boat along a canal in Amsterdam today as a heatwave spreads across Europe
French farmer Lydia adjusts a drip to refresh her sows at her pigsty in Kerfourn, western France today. French officials have urged caution as a record pre-summer heatwave spread across the country from Spain
People walk past a street thermometer reading 46 degrees celcius as near record temperatures continue to affect the country, in Bilbao today
France’s Health and Prevention Minister Brigitte Bourguignon (left) speaks to the press during a visit to a red heatwave zone in Poitiers, western France today, as she urged caution amid the summer heat. Swimmers enjoy the waters of the River Le Clain at Liguge in Vienne Department, south of Poitiers, central France today (on right)
Children walk in a public garden in Marseille, southern France, yesterday, where grass is dried by several weeks without rain and as France faces a massive heatwave
Speed limits in several regions, including around Paris, have been reduced to limit the concentration of harmful smog or ozone in the heat.
Electric grid operator RTE said increased use of fans and air-conditioners was also driving up power consumption.
The heatwave has spread up from north Africa through Spain, also affecting Italy and the United Kingdom.
Several towns in northern Italy have announced water rationing and the Lombardy region may declare a state of emergency as a record drought threatens harvests.
Pictured: Young people walk near the Guggenheim Museum as near record temperatures continue to affect the country, in Bilbao amid 40C heat today
Electric grid operator RTE said increased use of fans and air-conditioners was also driving up power consumption. Pictured: A dog cools off in a pond close to the French Society for the Protection of Animal animal rescue centre, in Plaisir today
The UK also had its third day in a row that temperature records had been broken in the UK, where it was over 28C on Wednesday and 29.5C on Thursday.
Experts warned that the high temperatures were caused by worrying climate change trends.
‘As a result of climate change, heatwaves are starting earlier,’ said Clare Nullis, a spokeswoman for the World Meteorological Organization in Geneva.
‘What we’re witnessing today is unfortunately a foretaste of the future’ if concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere continue to rise and push global warming towards 2C from pre-industrial levels, she added.
Bare-chested jogger runs as near record temperatures continue to affect the country, in Bilbao
Firefighters in Spain were also battling fires in several other regions, including woodlands in Catalonia where weather conditions complicated the fight.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez praised firefighters ‘who risk their lives on the frontline of fires’ on Friday, which is also World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.
Temperatures were above 35C Friday in most parts of the country and will top 40C in some areas.
Europe is not the only place experiencing extreme heat with the National Weather Service saying that Los Angels County will see ‘potentially dangerous’ temperatures in the area again by Thursday.
While tornados also hit Chicago, Maywood, Broadview, Westchester, and other neighborhoods, NBC reported earlier this week amid thunderstorm warnings in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
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