WMO, EUROPE - New Heatwave in Europe

Many parts of Europe are bracing for a new record-breaking heatwave this week, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Temperatures exceeding 40°C are expected at its peak on Thursday (25 Jul), including in Germany and the Benelux countries, where such intense temperatures may become the highest ever recorded in those nations.

Speaking to journalists in Geneva, WMO spokesperson Clare Nullis said that “Meteo France is warning that the heatwave will aggravate the drought. It hasn’t rained in many parts of France since the end of the last heatwave: the end of June, start of July. A number of places in France have set new records for the lowest amount of rainfalls since record started.”

In Spain, temperatures of above 40°C are also forecast. According to Clare Nullis “the Spanish meteorological service is again today warning of an extreme fire risk in large parts of the country. It’s a combination of heat, of wind, and the risk of storms and lightening, setting things a blaze.”

New minimum overnight temperature records were reported during the night of Monday to Tuesday (22-23 July) mainly in the southwest of France, with a low of 24.8°C in Bordeaux.

Meanwhile, Portugal’s severe wildfires continue, with a burned area increasing by 2,000 ha in the space of one day.

Several locations in the United States saw record highs over the weekend, including in New Jersey where a high of 37.8°C was measured on Saturday (20 Jul). In a rapid turn-around of events, the heatwave is now over.

“Cold front is now on its way. It has effectively put an end to the heatwave across the eastern United States. Quite often the flip side of heat is the storms, and the national weather service is now is forecasting severe storms and heavy flooding in parts of the country,” said Clare Nullis.

Extreme weather events are becoming increasingly common, and Nullis said that “heatwaves are bad, they do bear the hallmark of climate change. And they are, as we saw in June, becoming more frequent.”

Nullis added that “They are starting earlier, and they are becoming more intense. So, it is not a problem that’s going to go away, but hopefully thanks to the heat health warnings, the heat health action plans now in many parts of the world we can make the incident that we saw back in 2003 – the European heat wave – that should, hopefully, be thing of the past now. We know better, we’ve learned our lesson and we do have measures in place.”

Photo ©World Meteorological Organization