The United Kingdom recorded its hottest temperature on record on Tuesday (19) amid the worst heat wave Europe has faced in recent days.
Thermometers around London Heathrow Airport reached 40.2ºC, while the first fire on British territory was recorded.
According to the Met Office, the country’s national weather service, temperatures in the UK are the highest since records began. For Stephen Belcher, head of science and technology at the Met Office, the record is linked to global warming.
In most parts of Europe, extreme temperatures cause deaths and massive damage to landscapes, such as fires and droughts.
In France, the situation is even more complicated: Météo France announced that the absolute heat record has been broken in 64 municipalities, mainly on the Atlantic coast.
The intense heat in the French territory caused several destructive fires for several days, which forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people, mainly in the Gironde, and destroyed hundreds of hectares of forests and vegetation. In Nantes, the temperature reached 42°C, breaking the previous record of 40.3°C set in 1949.
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WHO), temperatures on the continent are expected to peak today, but remain above normal until the middle of next week.
“Episodes like this will become more and more frequent in the coming decades due to climate change,” warned the organization’s secretary-general in Geneva, Petteri Talas. .
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