Extreme heat, forest fires spread across the UK, Spain, France and Portugal
Temperatures are soaring in Western Europe, and the UK, Spain and France are hovering above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cody Godwin, USA TODAY
- The UK Meteorological Office announced that a temperature of 40.2 degrees Celsius was provisionally recorded, breaking a previous record of 38.7 degrees Celsius in 2019.
- The office also issued the UK’s first red warning for exceptional heat this week.
- Meanwhile, the heat wave in much of Europe has caused intense forest fires and at least 748 heat-related deaths in Spain and Portugal.
The UK shattered its record high temperature ever recorded on Tuesday, as a scorching heat wave hit much of continental Europe, causing hundreds of heat-related deaths and fierce wildfires.
The Meteorological Office, the UK meteorological office, announced that a temperature of 40.2 degrees Celsius (104.4 degrees Fahrenheit) was provisionally recorded on Tuesday in London. A temperature of 39.1 C (102.4 F) was provisionally recorded in the early hours of the day in the English village of Charlwood in Surrey.
“Well, I wasn’t expecting to see this in my career, but the UK has just surpassed 40 degrees Celsius,” Met office chief scientist Stephen Belcher said in a Twitter video.
The previous record maximum temperature recorded in the UK was 38.7 C (101.7 F) in 2019, according to the Met Office.
Tuesday’s highs will be “unprecedented,” said Rachel Ayers, a Met Office meteorologist, adding that temperatures would rise to 104 or 105.8 F in parts of England in the afternoon.
PREVIOUS REPORTS: Hundreds killed when extreme heat wave sweeps Europe; The UK could break the record
The UK issues the first red warning
The Met Office issued the UK’s first red warning for exceptional heat this week. At this level of warning, the disease can occur even among “fit and healthy” groups, not just high-risk groups.
The notice covers Monday and Tuesday parts of central, northern, eastern and south-eastern England, the office said.
Until Tuesday, there is also a warning of extreme heat Amber lower in much of England, Wales and the south of Scotland. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland can also see record temperature breaks, the Met Office said.
Temperatures are expected to drop to the most typical levels at this time of year by mid-next week, according to the Met Office.
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Closes the British Supreme Court
As the UK suffocated during the heat wave, the British Supreme Court closed and hearings were moved online due to an air conditioning problem. The British Museum also planned to close soon.
In a country known for rain and mild temperatures, many public buildings do not have air conditioning. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the British transport infrastructure “was not built to withstand this kind of temperature, and it will be many years before we can replace the infrastructure with the kind of infrastructure it could”.
The heat wave causes deaths in other parts of Europe
Meanwhile, the warm, dry weather has also scorched large areas of Europe since last week. Forest fires have been reported from Portugal to the Balkans. At least 748 heat-related deaths have been reported in Spain and neighboring Portugal, where temperatures reached 117 degrees Fahrenheit earlier this month.
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Is it the fault of climate change?
Scientists in the UK say that extreme weather events, including heat waves, are increasing in frequency, duration and intensity as a result of climate change.
Nikos Christidis, a climate attribution scientist at the Met Office, said recent studies showed that the likelihood of extremely hot days in the UK has been and will continue to rise with the most extreme temperatures affecting the south-east of England . The chances of seeing 104-degree days in the UK could be up to 10 times more likely in the current climate compared to a natural climate unaffected by human influence, a Met Office statement said.
Belcher, the chief scientist at the Met Office, said climate change has made temperatures like this possible.
“For me, it’s a real reminder that the weather has changed and will continue to change,” he said in a video on Twitter.
Collaborators: Doyle Rice, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
Contact News now journalist Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.