France endures its hottest day ever as Europe swelters in heat wave

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/28/europe/france-record-temperature-heatwave-intl/index.html

By Ivana Kottasová, CNN
Updated 2:32 PM ET, Fri June 28, 2019

France recorded its highest-ever temperature on Friday as continental Europe continues to struggle with an intense heat wave.
The mercury reached 45.1 degrees Celsius (113.2 Fahrenheit) just before 3 p.m. local time in Villevieille, in the Gard department in southern France, according to the French national weather service Météo-France.
This is 1 degree higher than the previous record from 2003.

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French authorities have taken a number of radical steps this week to prevent a repeat of the tragic consequences of the 2003 heat wave that left around 14,000 people dead.

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Climate scientists have warned that heat waves such as this one are becoming more frequent and increasingly severe because of the climate crisis. Météo-France said the frequency of such events is expected to double by 2050.

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In Spain, firefighters have been battling a 15,000-acre wildfire near Tarragona in the country's northeast since late on Wednesday. According to the Catalan Fire Brigade, the fire likely started after an improperly stored pile of manure spontaneously combusted, causing sparks. The firefighters said the blaze was one of the worst in Catalonia in the last 20 years.

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Earlier this week, French national weather service Météo-France linked the country's increasingly frequent heatwaves with greenhouse gas emissions, warning that, without significant cuts to emissions, heat waves could be stronger and last longer than in the past.

According to Stefan Rahmstorf, co-chairman of Earth system analysis at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and professor at Potsdam University in Germany, mounting heatwaves are exactly what climate scientists predicted as a result of rising global temperatures caused by increases in greenhouse gas emissions from burning coal, oil and gas.
"Heat waves are on the rise," Rahmstorf said in a statement earlier this week, comparing recent extreme heat with 500 years of records. "The hottest summers in Europe since the year 1500 AD all occurred since the last turn of the century: 2018, 2010, 2003, 2016, 2002."