Firefighters battled wildfires in Turkey, forcing the evacuation of more than 50,000 residents, as an early summer heatwave hit Europe and put Spain on course for its hottest June on record.
Health alerts were issued in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Germany as well as in England and Wales. Even the Netherlands, used to a milder climate, issued a warning for high temperatures in the coming days coupled with high humidity.
“Large parts of western Europe are experiencing extreme heat and heatwave conditions that are normally observed in July or August, rather than June,” said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Temperatures in some locations were between five and 10 degrees Celsius warmer than they would typically be at this time of year, she said.
New highs are expected on Wednesday, before rain is forecast to bring respite to some areas later this week.
“Extreme heat is no longer a rare event – it has become the new normal,” tweeted UN secretary general Antonio Guterres. “The planet is getting hotter & more dangerous – no country is immune.”
In Portugal – Mr Guterres’s home country – on Sunday, a temperature reading in Mora, about 60 miles east of Lisbon, turned up a suspected record-high June temperature of 46.6 C (115.9F).
In Turkey, wildfires raged for a second day near Izmir, fanned by strong winds. More than 50,000 people have been evacuated from five regions, including more than 42,000 in Izmir, according to the country’s emergency management authority, AFAD.
In France, where temperatures are expected to peak on Tuesday and Wednesday, wildfires burned in the southwestern Aude department, where temperatures topped 40C, burning 400 hectares and forcing the evacuation of a campsite and an abbey.
Weather service Meteo France put a record 84 of the country’s 101 departments on an orange heatwave alert until midweek.
Spain is on course for its hottest June on record, the national meteorological service AEMET said.
“Over the next few days, at least until Thursday, intense heat will continue in much of Spain,” said Ruben del Campo, a spokesperson for the weather agency.
In Seville, where global leaders gathered for a United Nations conference, temperatures hit 42C.
“It’s awful,” municipal worker Bernabe Rufo said as he cleaned a fountain. “We need to be looking for shade constantly.”
In Italy, the health ministry issued heatwave red alerts for 16 cities, including Rome and Milan. Lombardy is planning to ban open-air work during the hottest part of the day in response to a request from trade unions.
In Germany, too, heat warnings were in place across large parts of western and southwestern regions, where temperatures climbed to 34C. Authorities appealed to consumers to limit their use of water.
The heatwave has lowered the water level of the River Rhine, hampering shipping and raising freight costs for cargo owners, commodity traders said. German and French baseload power prices surged as the heatwave led to increased demand for air conditioning.
Globally, extreme heat kills up to 480,000 people annually, surpassing the combined toll from floods, earthquakes and hurricanes, and poses growing risks to infrastructure, the economy and healthcare systems, insurance company Swiss Re said earlier this month.
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
