Temperature records toppled as a spring heat wave continued to scorch parts of Western Europe on Tuesday, triggering government warnings about risks to life. Several drownings were reported in Britain and France as people tried to chill down.
A temperature of 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) was recorded at London’s Kew Gardens and Heathrow Airport, Britain’s Met Office weather service said, breaking the 34.8 C (94.6 F) record set a day earlier. The provisional readings smashed the previous record of 32.8 C (91.4 F) set in 1922 and 1944.
London also recorded a rare “tropical night,” defined as one wherein the temperature doesn’t fall below 20 C (68 F).
Records also fell in France, where temperatures reached 36 C (97 F) on Monday within the country’s southwest and widely remained above 20 C at night.
The national weather service, Météo-France, said a “heat dome,” with heat held in place by a high-pressure weather front, was producing temperatures greater than 10 degrees Celsius above what was once usual for this time of 12 months.
Unpredictable and extreme weather have gotten more frequent as Earth’s warming builds. Experts say unprecedented and deadly weather extremes that sometimes strike at abnormal times and in unusual places are putting more people at risk.
After a U.K. long weekend that sent people flocking to beaches, pools and shady parks, London commuters sweltered on Tuesday in subway carriages without air con. Trains to and from the busy Waterloo station were disrupted by a report of smoke on the tracks.
In Scotland, firefighters worked through the night to douse a grass fire that sent smoke billowing from Arthur’s Seat, the rocky hill that looms over Edinburgh.
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The U.K. Health Security Agency issued an amber health alert for giant parts of the country through Thursday, warning of a possible health risk, particularly amongst older people, at the most well liked times of the day. The U.K. is used to moderate temperatures, and plenty of homes, schools and businesses wouldn’t have air con.
Not less than three teenagers died in apparent drownings in U.K. lakes and reservoirs, and a 60-year-old man died within the sea in southwest England, authorities said.
French government spokesperson Maud Bregeon said there have been reports of a minimum of seven deaths potentially related to high temperatures, including five drownings and two deaths in sports competitions.
The early heat wave has struck before the annual summer window when lifeguards watch over bathers at popular beaches, increasing risks.
On France’s Atlantic seaboard, where magnificent beaches have powerful riptides, officials reported a rash of emergencies within the surf, with two drowning deaths on Sunday at popular resorts within the Gironde region within the southwest.
The highest regional administrator, Sophie Brocas, urged beachgoers “to exercise the utmost caution.”
The unseasonable heat prolonged to Spain, where weather service spokesperson Rubén del Campo said “we discover ourselves with temperatures we normally see in the course of the summer now within the month of May.”
He said Seville hit 38 C (100 F) over the weekend, while large parts of the Iberian Peninsula saw temperatures 5 to 10 degrees Celsius higher than normal.
And in Rome, temperatures were expected to succeed in 32 degrees C (89.6 F) on Tuesday.
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