55 people drowned in France since the start of the heatwave, minister says
Over in France, the number of people who drowned during this heatwave has gone up to 55, sports minister Marina Ferrari told Franceinfo.
She worried that the situation could get worse as the heatwave continues.
In comments reported by Le Figaro, she said that two-thirds of the drownings took place at unsupervised or unauthorised swimming areas.
61 French departments remain under the highest red extreme heat alert today.
Key events
As the heatwave begins its march eastwards, we are expecting to see more extreme temperatures in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and parts of central Europe today.
Frankfurt is expected to see 39C today, Amsterdam and Bologna 37C, Brussels and Geneva 36C, Prague and Zurich 35C, and London and Zagreb 34C.
In central Europe, the temperatures will peak over the weekend, with authorities expecting temperatures near 40C in Berlin on Saturday, and in Prague and Warsaw on Sunday.
Human-made climate change ‘unequivocally’ responsible for heatwave, scientists say
Scientists said in a study released Friday that human-made climate change was “unequivocally” responsible for the heat that broke records in Britain, France, Spain and Switzerland, while the Netherlands issued its first-ever red alert over heat, AFP reported.
It would have been “virtually impossible” for such exceptional temperatures to occur in June fifty years ago, the World Weather Attribution group of scientists said.
A similar heatwave would have been 3.5C cooler during the day in June 1976, concluded the study by scientists from Europe, the United States and the United Kingdom.
But the world is hotter today and “the chance of a heatwave like this has changed immensely”, said the study’s lead author Theodore Keeping from Imperial College London.
Welcome
The UK Met Office has extended a red heat alert into Friday for a large area of south-east England, the first time such warnings have been issued for three days in a row.
The red warning is in place until 9pm for London, Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire, Hampshire and Kent. Amber heat warnings are in place for a wider area on Friday, and are running into Saturday for parts of east and south-east England.
On Friday, swathes of Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland face yellow warnings for thunderstorms.
A weather warning for thunderstorms and heavy rain is in place across Scotland for the entirety of Friday, following days of baking temperatures. Temperatures reached 31.2C at Threave in Dumfries and Galloway on Thursday, according to Met Office data.
However, the weather is set to change dramatically as rainier conditions sweep in from the north-west. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has issued flood alerts for every area of Scotland other than Shetland.
In Europe, France is braced for more stifling heat. From noon, Paris will begin a ban on drinking alcohol in public for certain times of the day. You can read more about that here. The ban also covers takeaway alcohol sales in Paris. Police said the ban was necessary as hospitals were overwhelmed and had reached ‘“saturation point”. At least 48 people have died in France from drowning since the start of the heatwave.
Germany, Austria, Italy and Czechia face a torrid few days as temperatures are forecast to soar further east and south.
The London ambulance service (LAS) said it had responded to its highest number of life-threatening emergencies ever on Wednesday. Chief operating officer Craig Harman said they expect “demand to grow day on day over the next couple of days”.
Harman urged people to drink responsibly, as football fans prepare to cheer for England during Saturday’s World Cup game against Panama. He advised people to drink “plenty of water” in between alcoholic beverages.
LAS saw a 50% increase in life-threatening emergency calls compared with a typical Wednesday in June, with the number of cardiac arrests up 30%.
In Paris, cardiac arrest callouts in were up fourfold, officials said on Thursday.
Italian news reports said five people died on Wednesday from heat-related incidents.