Europe 'burning' with record high of 47°C... Hundreds dead from heatwave

'National Emergency' Heatwave Alert Issued in European Countries
659 Deaths Due to Heatwave in Portugal

On the 18th (local time), a man is running on a road on the outskirts of Frankfurt, Germany. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Gun-chan] The entire Europe, including the UK and France, has been engulfed by a heatwave.

On the 17th (local time), according to foreign media such as the UK’s BBC, the UK issued its first-ever red heatwave warning, mainly for London and the England region. The daytime temperature in the UK on the 19th is forecast to rise up to 41 degrees Celsius. The UK’s highest temperature on record was 38.7 degrees Celsius, recorded in 2019. The health authorities explained that this is the first time a red heatwave warning has been issued, which is equivalent to a national emergency.

The situation in France is similar. The French Meteorological Agency issued the highest-level red heatwave warning for 15 areas along the western coast on the 18th. On the 18th, the western region of France recorded the highest daytime temperature ever. According to foreign media such as AP, the western French city of Nantes recorded 42 degrees Celsius, surpassing the previous highest record of 40.3 degrees Celsius set in 1949.

Unusual heatwaves continue on the Iberian Peninsula, where Spain and Portugal are located. According to the Spanish Meteorological Agency, Spain’s highest temperature last weekend rose to 45.7 degrees Celsius. Accordingly, Spanish authorities issued a heatwave warning on the 17th. According to the UK’s Guardian, the Carlos III National Institute of Health Research, which counts daily deaths related to the heatwave in Spain, reported that there were 360 heatwave-related deaths from the 10th to the 15th alone.

On the 18th (local time), pedestrians are passing by the street as a temperature of 44℃ is displayed on a pharmacy sign in Nantes, western France.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Portugal issued a red heatwave warning for five regions in central and northern Portugal on the 16th. The BBC reported that last week’s temperatures rose as high as 47 degrees Celsius, resulting in 659 deaths due to the heatwave. This is a significant increase compared to the 238 heatwave deaths recorded the previous week.

The cause of the heatwave engulfing Europe is rapid climate change. According to a paper published last month in the international journal Environmental Research: Climate, the researchers analyzed that "heatwaves are occurring more intensely and more frequently worldwide" and "recent heatwaves have occurred about three times more often than in times when climate change was not present."

Research also continues to show that climate change steadily increases the likelihood of heatwave occurrences. The heatwave was caused by the jet stream moving northward, with a part breaking off and creating a strong low-pressure system in western Portugal. This low-pressure system spread hot air to Western Europe, including Spain, France, and the UK, according to the BBC.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.