Europe on alert for potentially dangerous heatwave in the coming days
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Health authorities in many Western European nations are bracing themselves for what could be one long hot summer and as a potentially record-breaking heatwave is forecast to grip much of continental Europe next week.
France’s health minister, Agnès Buzyn, warned local authorities, hospitals and retirement homes to be on high alert, noting that last summer’s heatwave resulted in 1,500 more deaths than normal in July and August.
Temperatures in cities from Spain to Germany set to exceed 32C and climb to more than 38C or even 40C in the hottest areas.
Weather forecaster AccuWeather said current weather conditions are ideal for a potentially dangerous heatwave to grip a large portion of western and central Europe.
AccuWeather said cities from Madrid to Berlin, including Paris, Brussels and Frankfurt, were likely to experience a “multi-day heatwave” in the first half of the week, with similar temperatures of 32C or above expected further east later in Bucharest, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade and Sofia.
Long-range weather forecasts show summer temperatures throughout July and August are expected to be higher than normal, rivalling those of 2018, which according to the European Environment Agency was one of the three warmest years on record on the continent.
