This archive report was first published on 29 June 2019.
On June 29, 2019, Europe was bracing for another scorching day as a deadly heatwave continued to grip the continent, bringing record-breaking temperatures, large blazes, and pollution peaks.
As of June 28, 2019, France's Meteo-France weather service had lifted its red warning but forecast a “very hot day” across a large central band of the country, with temperatures expected to rise to 42 degrees Celsius in some areas.
Record Temperatures ¶
France reported a new record temperature of 45.9 degrees C on June 28, 2019, in Gallargues-le-Montueux, a village in the southern department of Gard near Montpellier, breaking successive records set earlier in the day.
This surpassed the previous high of 44.1 degrees C set in August 2003, since records began at the turn of the 20th century. The new high was comparable to August temperatures in California’s Death Valley.
Consequences of the Heatwave ¶
The heatwave has already claimed several lives, including a 17-year-old harvest worker in Spain and a 72-year-old homeless man in Italy. Heat-related deaths have also been reported in Germany and France, mainly among the elderly.
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe appealed to citizens to take precautions, stating, “I want to appeal to the sense of responsibility of citizens — there are avoidable deaths in every heatwave.”
Response to the Crisis ¶
Scientists warn that global warming linked to human fossil fuel use could make such scorchers more frequent. In France, Health Minister Agnes Buzyn lamented that despite public health warnings, some parents were still leaving their children in hot cars and joggers were out exercising in the midday heat.
In Spain, a fire that started on Friday evening in the central town of Almorox had already burnt at least 1,600 hectares of land, spilling over into the Madrid region and forcing the evacuation of a village.
