Europeans swelter in heatwave

Europeans braced on Thursday for the expected peak of a sweltering heatwave that has sent temperatures soaring above 40°C, with schools in France closing and wildfires in Spain spinning out of control.

Governments warned citizens to take extra precautions, with the high temperatures also causing a build-up of pollution, as emergency calls to hospitals increased.

Exceptional for arriving so early in summer, the heatwave will likely send thermometers above 40°C in France, Spain, and Greece.

A forest fire in Torre del Espanol in Spain’s northeastern Catalonia region raged out of control despite the efforts of hundreds of firefighters.

In the Italian city of Milan, a homeless man of 72 was found dead at the main train station after falling ill due to the heatwave, the authorities said.

Across Europe, people frolicked in fountains to cool off, and keepers at the BordeauxPessac Zoo in southwestern France handed out fish or iced mango to keep animals cool.

At the Serengeti animal park in Hodenhagen, northern Germany, keepers even applied sunscreen to some animals.

French health minister Agnes Buzyn said people had to be prepared for the heatwave’s peak and was irritated that some appeared not to be taking the advice on board.

“We see citizens who are quite irresponsible and continue to go jogging at midday,” she told France 2 TV.

She complained also of seeing parents who left their children in the car to do some quick shopping.

Some four days into the heatwave, Buzyn said French authorities were seeing an increase in the number of calls to emergency services and that she was concerned there would be an influx of people going to the hospital.

The average maximum temperature recorded on Wednesday in France of 34.9°C was already a record for the month of June, state weather forecaster Meteo France said.

Even higher temperatures are expected on Friday, where areas in the south could see peaks of 42°C to 44°C.

Meteo France said France’s all-time record could be broken – an August 12, 2003, reading of 44.1°C in Saint-Christolles-Ales and Conqueyrac in the southern Gard region.

Saturday is expected to be the hottest day for the Paris region, with temperatures between 38°C and 40°C expected.

Temperatures are expected to fall next week but will still remain well above the norms.

French hotel group Accor said it would open up its airconditioned lobbies to the elderly until Saturday.

Some schools have closed in parts of France, while others advised parents to keep children at home.

Schools in Paris would stay open until the end of the week when the summer holidays started, city authorities said.

In the wider Paris region, authorities shut some primary schools, including in Essonne.

The increase in temperature has also led to a build-up of pollution in already clogged cities, especially the gas ozone.

In Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Strasbourg, authorities have banned the most-polluting cars from the roads.

Scientists warn that global warming linked to human fossil fuel use could make such scorchers more frequent.

“Global temperatures are increasing due to climate change,” University of Reading climate science professor Len Shaffrey said.

“The global rise in temperatures means the probability that an extreme heatwave will occur is also increasing,” he said.

The forest fire in Spain’s Torre del Espanol raged out of control on Thursday, devouring land despite the efforts of hundreds of firefighters, who worked through the night.

The blaze broke out on Wednesday afternoon and by Thursday had destroyed more than 4,000ha, the region’s interior minister Miquel Buch said.

“We’re at a moment when the blaze is getting bigger,” he told Catalan radio.

The regional government warned the fire could eventually devour 20,000ha and posed an extreme risk.