“Hotter than the Sahara.” Thermometers continued to rise on Monday in Western Europe, where local heat records were set in France and the UK, while firefighters continued to battle blazes in Spain and Portugal.

This heatwave is the second recorded in less than a month in Europe. For scientists, this multiplication of phenomena is a direct consequence of climate change.

France recorded the “hottest day” of the current wave, which left several temperature records in western cities such as Brest (39.3 C) or Nantes (42 C), the Météo-France meteorological service showed.

Across the English Channel, England is also bracing for a record heat. Mercury could exceed 40 C for the first time in history on Tuesday. The highest temperature was recorded at 38.7 C, on July 25, 2019.

This Monday, the State of Wales – one of only four countries in the United Kingdom – set a record: 35.3 C near Aberystwyth.

In the face of a sweltering Monday — “Hotter than the Sahara”, according to the tabloid headline The Sun – some locals and visitors enjoyed a day on the beach in Tankerton, about 80 kilometers east of London.

British authorities set the highest level of alert, 4, because of the risks even young and healthy people experience. It is advisable to hydrate yourself, avoid sun exposure and monitor vulnerable people.

Schools in various parts of the UK were closed and, in the face of possible disruption, several rail companies called for travel bans on Monday and Tuesday. Heat on the runway forced traffic to a halt at London’s Luton airport.

The Netherlands, which recorded its hottest day of 2022 on Monday, and Belgium set an “orange alert” for Tuesday, forecasting temperatures to be close to 40C.

– Another one killed in Spain –

The current heatwave has taken a toll in Spain, where the final day is expected to be Monday with temperatures of up to 42 C in northern regions such as the Basque Country and Navarra, according to the meteorological agency Aemet.

On Sunday, a 50-year-old man died of a heat stroke on the outskirts of Madrid. The day before, a 60-year-old cleaning worker died in the capital for the same reason, a day after a worker at an industrial warehouse in Mostoles, near Madrid, died, local authorities reported Monday.

A fire recorded in Spain also led to the death of a shepherd in the province of Zamora (northwest), local authorities announced on Monday. The day before, a firefighter lost his life in the area.

In Spain, according to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, fires have scorched 70,000 hectares since the start of the year, “almost double the average of the last decade.” For days, firefighters tried to extinguish a series of fires.

In neighboring Portugal, about 800 firefighters were still battling four active fires in the center and north as of Monday, but Civil Protection estimates that the situation is favorable thanks to a drop in temperatures.

In the Vila Real region to the north, two people in their 70s died, according to Civil Protection.

“This was a road accident, the vehicle left the road in the Murça fire area,” explained the agency, which believes people were trying to escape the fire.

– ‘Climate change is killing’ –

In France, two large fires scorched 15,500 hectares of crops in southwestern France, near Bordeaux, for a week and forced the evacuation of more than 10,000 people on Monday.

“I’m going to my daughter’s house, but if it also spreads there, I don’t know what else to do,” Patricia Monteil told AFP, loading her vehicle in a neighborhood in the tourist town of La Teste-de-Buch (southwest). ). .

Because of the fire, more than a thousand animals from the Bassin d’Arcachon zoo also had to be evacuated, the French Association of Zoological Parks said.

The Bordeaux prosecutor’s office reported in a statement that it had arrested a man in the course of investigating one of the two fires, one in Landiras, further east, inland.

Scientists believe that the multiplication of heat waves is a direct consequence of global warming. Greenhouse gas emissions will increase in intensity, duration and frequency.

The European Commission indicated on Monday that nearly half of the European Union (EU) region was “at risk” of drought due to a prolonged lack of rainfall.

“Climate change kills, kills people (…), also kills our ecosystem,” said the president of the Spanish government, during a visit to fire-affected areas in Extremadura (west).

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