Heat alarm across Europe, record in Spain: 46 degrees in Andalusia
The heat wave does not spare the United Kingdom, and in particular London, where the Wimbledon tennis tournament has just started. The French Prime Minister, François Bayrou, has decided to postpone previous engagements in order to closely follow the development of the heat alert in France
3' min read
3' min read
There is a heat alarm across Europe, besieged by scorching temperatures just days before the official start of summer, which this year threatens to break all records forthe discomfort felt by citizens..
Spain is one of the countries most affected by the truly unprecedented heat wave, recording temperatures at an all-time high for the month of June. On Saturday, thermometers in El Granado in Huelva, in the southern region of Andalusia, reached 46 degrees, a level never before recorded for this time of year. surpassing the previous record of 45.2 recorded in Seville in 1965, reports the state meteorological agency Amet.
The exceptional heat wave, which is expected to last at least until tomorrow and continue at slightly more moderate levels until Thursday, has triggered a health alert across the country. The Ministry of Health and the Amet have classified around 1,100 Iberian municipalities (13% of the total) at high risk to health due to the high temperatures, with 14 'health-weather zones' at alert level 3 out of 4.
The impact of the exceptional heatwave has already had tragic effects in Barcelona, where an investigation has been launched into the death of a 51-year-old municipal cleaning services employee on Saturday after finishing her shift. According to colleagues and family members, the woman had fallen ill while on duty, but superiors had advised her to freshen up and not to leave her shift early. Trade unions warn of the dangers of extreme heat, which highlights the urgency of preventive protective measures for exposed workers.
Heat out of control even at Wimbledon
The heatwave does not spare the United Kingdom, and in particular London, where the Wimbledon tennis tournament, the third round of the Grand Slam of the season, has just kicked off, with a first day that is likely to record hellish temperatures. Just before the start of the first matches, at 11:00 a.m. local time on Monday, the temperature was already 28 degrees Celsius, just a step away from the 29.3 degrees Celsius measured during the first day of the two-week event in 2001. The average daytime temperature in London in June has been 21.5 degrees Celsius for the past few days.
