Swathes of Europe baked Tuesday in a heatwave trailed by wildfires and health warnings, as parts of Asia and the United States also suffered under extreme weather, according to AFP.
Firefighters battled blazes in parts of Greece and the Canary Islands and Spain issued heat alerts, while some children in Italy’s Sardinia were warned away from sports for safety reasons.
In the United States, the city of Phoenix broke a 49-year-old record with its 19th consecutive day of temperatures of 43.3 Celsius (110 Fahrenheit) or higher, weather officials said.
“You can’t be in the street, it’s horrible,” said Lidia Rodriguez, 27, in Madrid.
From the Washington to Beijing, authorities have warned in recent days of the health dangers of the extreme heat, urging people to drink water and shelter from the sun.
Several local temperature records were broken in southern France, the weather service there said.
Meteo France said a record 29.5 C (85 F) had been reached in the Alpine ski resort of Alpe d’Huez, which sits at an altitude of 1,860 metres (6,100 ft), while 40.6 C (105F) had been recorded for the first time in Verdun in the foothills of the Pyrenees.
In a stark reminder of the effects of global warming, the UN’s World Meteorological Agency (WMO) said the trend of heatwaves “shows no signs of decreasing”.
“These events will continue to grow in intensity, and the world needs to prepare for more intense heatwaves,” John Nairn, a senior extreme heat advisor at the WMO told reporters in Geneva.
