Sweltering heat wave sweeps across western Europe

Passengers take photos at a wildfire while traveling on a train in Zamora, Spain, Monday, July 18, 2022. Francisco Seoane told The Associated Press it was scary to see how quickly the fire spread. Video of the unscheduled stop shows about a dozen passengers in Seoane's railcar appearing alarmed as they look out of the windows Monday, July 18.

Spain’s railway administrator on Monday morning local time suspended services between two localities in the country’s northwest due to a fire close to the tracks, according to Spain’s state-owned railway company RENFE.

Social media footage filmed from inside one of the carriages showed a static train with fires flanking both sides of the train and worried passengers found themselves surrounded by flames.

The suspension affects all trains on the Madrid-Galicia route and is active until further notice. It is unclear whether the services have restarted.

CNN has reached out to RENFE but did not receive an immediate reply.

RENFE organized an alternative highway route between the station of Zamora and Sanabria in the Castille and Leon region for passengers whose trains had already left their stations.

“At all times the actions undertaken by Renfe have been aimed at maintaining the safety of the service and guaranteeing the integrity of the passengers,” RENFE said in a statement.

Some context: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday more than 70,000 hectares have been destroyed in Spain because of fires this year.

“70,000 hectares, to give you an idea is almost double of the last decade’s average. So far this year we have had 11 big fires,” he said. 

Almost the entire country faces and extreme fire risk with many regions now classed as an “extreme” level of heat, according to Spain’s national weather agency AEMET.

On Monday, Spain was facing the eighth of a more than week-long heatwave, which caused more than 510 heat-related deaths, according to the latest figures from the Carlos III Health Institute.

Network Rail, which owns, operates and develops Britain’s rail infrastructure, is asking people not to travel Tuesday due to extreme heat.

The company said in a tweet the East Coast Main Line will be closed and no services will run between London King’s Cross and York and Leeds.

“A combination of extremely high local forecast temperatures and temperatures well in excess of those for which the infrastructure is designed for on the East Coast Main Line has led to this decision,” it said on its website.

Network Rail also said conditions on other routes are subject to change depending on the weather. Extreme heat can cause the rail to expand, causing it to bend and buckle, the company says, adding the high temperatures can also be dangerous for workers.

Read the tweet:

People swim on the Moulleau's beach in Arcachon, France, on Monday, July 18, on the Moulleau's beach as the smoke rising from the forest fire in La Teste-de-Buch.

Records for high temperatures were broken across many cities and towns in the west of France on Monday as the country continues to battle wildfires burning in its southwestern region of Gironde.

The town of Cazaux, threatened by the raging wildfires in Gironde, recorded 42.4 degrees Celsius (108.3 degrees Fahrenheit), the hottest it has ever seen since its weather station first opened more than 100 years ago in 1921, according to the French national meteorological service Météo France. 

Major cities in Western France, such as Nantes and Brest have also seen their records updated by the heatwave on Monday — Nantes saw 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and Brest 39.3 degrees Celsius (102.7 degrees Fahrenheit), according to Météo France.  

Temperatures in the west are expected to be lower on Tuesday compared to Monday as the center of the heatwave moves toward the center and east of the country. Paris is expected to reach 39 degrees Celsius (102.2 degrees Fahrenheit) Tuesday.

Two people died Monday while trying to drive away from wildfires in northern Portugal, the country’s state broadcaster RTP reported. 

The elderly couple, who were in their 70s, died after their vehicle overturned and fell into a ravine in the municipality of Murca, according to RTP.

Monday’s incident comes after a pilot of a firefighting plane died in a crash during a firefighting operation in the northeast of the country on Friday. 

When a heat wave hits a city, it wreaks havoc across societies, putting many lives at risk, according to Vanesa Castán Broto, professor of climate urbanism at the University of Sheffield in the UK.

Heat waves, like the one Europe is experiencing right now, cause ripple effects that ultimately “impact the systems that enable our cities to work,” she said. Extremely hot temperatures cause power outages, buckle transportation systems, strain health services, decrease worker productivity, and overall affect the health of individuals that live in the area.

She continued: “The main one is how it impacts health and increase premature deaths. And we know that these health impacts are going to be particularly severe on populations that are already marginalized, at risk, and vulnerable in some way.”

During heat waves, cities — so-called urban heat islands — can be especially dangerous, since these are areas with a lot of asphalt, buildings and freeways that absorb the sun’s energy and then radiate more heat. The phenomenon, called the urban heat island effect, amplifies a heat wave’s already punishing consequences — and it doesn’t fall equally across communities.

The climate crisis has already fueled mass-casualty extreme heat events such as the US Pacific Northwest heat wave last year. And now, experts say European cities are still largely underprepared for punishing heat.

“I really hope that, at the very least, these impacts change the minds of people in cities to kind of try to create cities that are more adapted to more heat waves,” she added. “There are a lot of things we can do and they’re not being done right.”

To tackle such heat-related risks and vulnerabilities in cities, Castán Broto said a wider range of measures is necessary, including implementing early warning systems, retrofitting buildings to be energy-efficient cooling areas, and creating more public green spaces.

“Public space is really important,” she said. “When people, for example, live in a house that is very hot, having a place that they can go to and refresh themselves can be really valuable.”

“You see a lot of people go to malls because there’s air conditioning, but that’s not sustainable,” Castán Broto added. “What would be more sustainable is to have well-maintained public spaces with shadows or shades, that’s not privately controlled, where people can really enjoy and have a space, especially for those that don’t have a home.”

A man fans himself with a newspaper to keep himself cool while traveling on London's Underground on Monday.

The UK experienced its third hottest day on record, as well as the hottest day of the year so far on Monday, according to the Meteorological Office, which is the UK’s national weather service.

The top temperature in the UK on Monday was 38.1 degrees Celsius (100.58 degrees Fahrenheit) recorded in Santon Downham, Suffolk.

Monday was the UK’s third hottest day on record, after 38.7 degrees Celsius (101.66 degrees Fahrenheit) was recorded at Cambridge Botanic Garden in July 2019 and 38.5 degrees Celsius (101.3 degrees Fahrenheit) was recorded in Faversham, Kent, in August 2003.

The Met Office is warning that Tuesday is likely to be even hotter, after it issued its first ever Red warning for exceptional heat, covering both Monday and Tuesday.

This graphic created by Professor Ed Hawkins shows the changes in global temperature since 1850.

Heat waves are becoming more intense because of the rise in global temperature, which has devastating effects on landscapes, ecosystems and even the human body.

A graphic created by Professor Ed Hawkins, a climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Science at Reading University, shows all the changes in global temperature since 1850.

It is made up of billions of individual measurements of a thermometer made by tens of thousands of people. Each of the 172 colored stripes signifies one year.

After 1970, there is a “rapid change in color” from oranges to dark reds “highlighting how quickly things have changed over the last 40 or 50 years,” Hawkins previously told CNN.

“The consequences in a warmer world are more extreme heat waves. As the temperatures increase, heat waves get hotter and in many regions that will be increase risk of wildfires, especially for areas getting dryer,” Hawkins said.

Raging wildfires have scorched thousands of hectares of forest in France and Spain, while Britain is set to face its hottest day on record amid a searing heat wave on Monday.

Sweltering temperatures in Portugal this week have exacerbated a drought that started before the heat wave, according to data from the national meteorological institute. About 96% of the mainland was already suffering severe or extreme drought at the end of June.

But the global rising of temperatures and heat waves don’t affect all parts of the world the same. Data shows the planet is warming fastest in the Arctic and in the northern latitudes it is warming faster over land that in the ocean.

Global impacts: As temperatures rise, so does the likelihood of climate migration as people flee regions that are too hot to live in. Heat is also felt more intensely in urban centers because of the lack of green spaces. Scientists say buildings and concrete absorb the sun’s energy and then radiate heat, as opposed to parks and grassy areas that absorb less.

“It’s very important to put in place adaptations like nature-based solutions and cooling and action plans for heat waves,” Chloe Brimicombe, an environmental climate science PhD researcher at the University of Reading, previously told CNN.

Some of the cooling systems like air conditioning are actually driving energy demands, which for most countries, mans an increase in fossil fuels, according to the International Energy Agency. This same fossil fuel usage and subsequent greenhouse gas emissions is also a main contributor to climate change — one of the reasons why global temperatures are warming so quickly.

“If we want to stabilize the planets temperature, to help global warming, then we need to reduce our emissions to net zero,” Hawkins said.

Net zero emissions can be achieved by removing as much greenhouse gas from the atmosphere as what’s emitted, so the net amount added is zero. To do this, countries and companies will need to rely on natural methods — like planting trees or restoring grasslands — to soak up carbon dioxide (CO2), the most abundant greenhouse gas we emit, or use technology to “capture” the gas and store it away where it won’t escape into the atmosphere.

“The future is in our hands. our choices over the coming decades will determine how warm the planet will get,” he added.

Watch: All the changes in global temperature since 1850

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03:28 - Source: cnn

Beachgoers gather at Portmarnock beach near Dublin, Ireland, on Monday.

Ireland on Monday recorded 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit) at Phoenix Park in Dublin, the country’s highest-ever recorded temperature in over a century and a new record for the month of July, the Irish Meteorological Service said.

Monday’s temperature at Phoenix Park is only 0.3 degrees Celsius below the all-time 135-year-old record set at Kilkenny Castle in Ireland in 1887, the Irish Observational Climatology said.

Hot-temperature records are far outpacing cool records across the globe so far this year as Europe and the United States brace again for dangerous heat waves. 

Globally, 188 all-time heat records have been broken so far in 2022 (with more than 50 of those occurring in the past week), compared with just 18 cold records, according to data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In the US alone, 92 all-time record high temperatures had been set through July 16, compared with only five all-time record low temperatures.

Studies have shown that extreme heat will increase in frequency, intensity and duration because of the climate crisis and that extremes will occur more frequently on the hot side compared to cold.

Gabriel Vecchi, a climate scientist and geosciences professor at Princeton University, told CNN that the hot-and-cold record imbalance is a signal of the climate crisis, and scientists have noted a trend in recent years that hot extremes are outpacing cold ones.

“This is what you would expect from a planetary warming that’s been driven in large part from greenhouse gases; this is now the world we’re living in,” Vecchi told CNN, noting that “it’s fair to think that almost every heatwave that we see right now has some influence from global warming.”

Read more here.

Extreme temperatures can lead to several heat-related conditions that could be deadly for many people, especially the elderly and those with other medical conditions.Two of the most common are heatstroke and heat exhaustion.

With heatstroke, the body can’t cool itself. Its temperature rises quickly, and its natural cooling mechanism — sweat — fails. A person’s temperature can rise to a dangerous 106 degrees or higher within just 10 or 15 minutes. This can lead to disability or even death.

A person who has heatstroke may sweat profusely or not at all. They can become confused or pass out, and they could have a seizure.

Heat exhaustion happens when the body losses too much water or salt through excessive sweating. That can come with symptoms like nausea, dizziness, irritability, thirst, headache and elevated body temperature.

With both conditions, emergency help is needed quickly. While waiting for assistance, bystanders can try to cool the person by moving them to the shade and giving them with water.

Extreme high temperatures can also put significant strain on the heart or make breathing more difficult. These temperatures can be linked to at least 17 causes of death, most of them related to heart and breathing issues but also including suicide, drowning and homicide.

Studies have shown that exposure to extreme heat can also contribute to mental health issues, problems for pregnant women and poor birth outcomes.

Who is most vulnerable: The elderly, children and people with chronic diseases and mental health problems are at the highest risk of heat-related illness, along with people who take certain medicines, according to the CDC. Doctors say it’s important to monitor those who are very young or very old, because they’re not able to regulate their body temperature as well. 

It’s not just exposure to extreme temperatures that’s a problem. Higher temperatures increase particle and ozone pollution and contribute to hundreds of thousands of additional deaths of all ages around the world, according to a study published last year.

Read more here.

Smoke from a wildfire in La Test-de-Buch, France, rises over a beach on July 18.

Half of humanity is in the “danger zone” from floods, droughts, extreme storms and wildfires, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned Monday, as parts of Europe are facing very high temperatures, drought and wildfires.

The meeting is attended by government representatives from 40 countries and serves to discuss major climate protection agreements and focuses on preparations for November’s COP27 World Climate Conference in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, this year. 

“We cannot continue this way. We must rebuild trust and come together — to keep 1.5 alive and to build climate-resilient communities,” he said.

“We have a choice. Collective action or collective suicide. It is in our hands,” he concluded.

Two years ago, forecasters in the UK conducted an interesting thought experiment: What will our forecasts look like in 2050?

The climate crisis is pushing weather to the extreme all over the world, and temperatures in the northern latitudes have been particularly sensitive to these changes. So meteorologists at the UK Met Office — the official weather forecast agency for the UK — dove in to the super long-range climate models in the summer of 2020 to see what kind of temperatures they’d be forecasting in about three decades.

“Not actual weather forecast,” the Met Office’s graphics said. “Examples of plausible weather based on climate projections.”

Well, on Monday and Tuesday, the “plausible” becomes reality — 28 years early.

In 30 years, this forecast will seem rather typical. It’s also clearly a sign of how rapidly the climate crisis is altering our weather.

The chance of exceeding 40 degrees is “increasing rapidly,” Christidis said.

Britain is bracing itself for the “hottest day in UK history,” according to a senior weather official. On Friday, the Met Office issued its first ever red warning for “extreme heat” over the soaring temperatures.

The Met Office’s CEO, Penelope Endersby, said Monday may well be the “hottest day in UK history,” but Tuesday is “expected to be even hotter.”

This is about more than a few uncomfortable days. Extreme heat is among the most deadly weather events and recent reports would suggest no more than 5% of UK homes have air conditioning to help keep residents cool.

Read more here.

Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall visit a fishing village in Cornwall, England, on July 18.

Prince Charles stressed on Monday that the climate crisis “really is a genuine emergency” and that tackling it is “utterly essential” as Britain and countries across Europe see record temperatures. 

“Those commitments around net zero have never been more vitally important as we all swelter under today’s alarming, record temperatures across Britain and Europe,” the Prince of Wales underlined. 

The sun rises behind the pipe systems and shut-off devices at the gas receiving station of the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline and the transfer station of the OPAL gas pipeline, Baltic Sea Pipeline Link, in Lubmin, Germany, on July 11.

Europe is bracing for the potential of a full-blown gas crisis later this week just as a historic heat wave has hiked demand for energy to help cool the continent’s homes and businesses.

On Thursday, the Nord Stream 1 pipeline — a crucial artery linking Russia’s gas to the bloc — is due to reopen after 10 days of routine maintenance work. But concern is building that Russia will keep the taps turned off in retaliation for sanctions the European Union has imposed since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

Robert Habeck, Germany’s economy minister, said earlier this month that the country must “prepare for the worst.”

Read more here.

The European Commission has mobilized one more firefighting plane as new wildfires rage across parts of the continent, EU Commission spokesperson Balazs Ujvari said Monday.

Speaking during the regular news briefing in Brussels, Ujvari said that in addition to the firefighting airplanes mobilized in Portugal, France and Albania last week, the EU Commission deployed another plane from Croatia to Slovenia over the weekend.

Slovenia had activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism asking for support to battle a forest fire in Nova Gorica, close to the Italian border.

The EU Commission “also provided rapid satellite images to France in the context of an ongoing fire in the southwest of the country using the Copernicus satellite system,” he said.

This comes on top of the two firefighting aircraft that were deployed last week from the rescue fleet.

“We continue of course to monitor the situation during this unprecedented heatwave and will continue to mobilize support as needed,” he added.

Whether you’re without power, enduring extreme heat or trying to save money, there are ways to feel comfortable without artificial cooling.

Heat can foster fun summer activities, but the body shouldn’t be too hot for too long, as too much heat can harm your brain and other organs, according to the US National Institutes of Health.

Sweating is the body’s natural cooling system, but when that’s not enough, there’s increased risk for developing the heat-related illness hyperthermia — signs of which include heat cramps, heat edema and heat stroke.

Staying cool can be done by using some basic supplies and knowing how to manipulate your home to control its temperatures. Here are 14 methods for doing so.

Stay hydrated

When you’re hot and flushed, hydrating yourself is the first and foremost step to cooling down, said Wendell Porter, a senior lecturer emeritus in agricultural and biological engineering at the University of Florida.

The temperature of the water doesn’t matter since your body will heat it, he added. If your body is suffering from the heat and needs to cool itself, it can’t do that without enough moisture, since the body cools itself by sweating.

Take a cold shower or bath

Taking a cold shower or bath helps cool your body by lowering your core temperature, Porter said.

For an extra cool blast, try peppermint soap. The menthol in peppermint oil activates brain receptors that tell your body something you’re eating or feeling is cold.

Use cold washrags on your neck or wrists

Place a cold washrag or ice bags (packs) on your wrists or drape it around your neck to cool your body. These pulse points are areas where blood vessels are close to the skin, so you’ll cool down more quickly.

Use box fans

Place box fans facing out of the windows of rooms you’re spending time in to blow out hot air and replace it with cold air inside.

Close your curtains or blinds

If you have windows that face the sun’s direction in the morning through afternoon, close the curtains or blinds over them to “keep the sun from coming directly into the house and heating up (the) inside,” Porter said.

You could also install blackout curtains to insulate the room and reduce temperature increases that would happen during the day.

Sleep in breathable linens

Cotton is one of the most breathable materials, so cotton sheets or blankets could help keep you cool through the night. The lower the thread count of the cotton, the more breathable it is, Porter said.

Sleep in the basement

If you can’t sleep through the night because you’re too hot, try sleeping somewhere besides your bedroom, if that’s an option. Heat rises, so if you have a lower or basement level in your home, set up a temporary sleeping area there to experience cooler temperatures at night.

Don’t refrigerate or freeze blankets or clothing

Common advice for staying cool without air conditioning includes refrigerating or freezing wet socks, blankets or clothing then ringing them out to wear while you sleep. But this isn’t a good idea, Porter said.

Because of “the amount of energy they can absorb from your body that night, they will be warm in just a matter of minutes,” he said. “And then you’d have damp stuff that would mold your mattress. So you definitely don’t want to do that.”

Close the doors of unused rooms

If no one’s using a room that doesn’t have vents or registers, close the door to that area to keep the cool air confined to only occupied areas of the house.

Use the exhaust fan in your kitchen and/or bathroom

Flip the switch for the exhaust fan in your kitchen to pull hot air that rises after you cook or in your bathroom to draw out steam after you shower.

Install energy-efficient light bulbs

Incandescent light bulbs generate a higher temperature than LED light bulbs do. To make the switch, watch for sales on energy-efficient bulbs, then slowly replace the bulbs in your house, Porter said.

Switching light bulbs can save money but won’t reduce a lot of heat in the home, Hall said. However, if you focus on switching the bulbs in areas you’re sitting near, that would make a more noticeable difference, Porter said.

Cook in the morning, with a slow cooker or outside

Oven heat can spread throughout your house. Keep the heat centralized in one area, such as a slow cooker. Or, cook outdoors on a grill to keep the heat outside.

Enjoy frozen treats

Eating an ice pop or ice cream to cool down may help for a moment. But don’t go overboard on the sugar if you’re overheated or at risk of being overheated, Porter said.

“Sugar would run your metabolism up and you’d start feeling internally hot,” he said. “So the cool treat might be good, but the extra sugar might not.”

Research what your state offers

If you’ve tried everything and still can’t beat the heat at home, you could look online for any local programs that are offering ductless air conditioners.

Depending on your state, some cooling centers – air-conditioned public facilities where people might go for relief during extremely hot weather – may be open and taking precautions to ensure they’re as safe as possible. You could start by checking with your local utility offices, as they would know who is offering certain programs, Porter recommended.

CNN’s Madeline Holcombe and Holly Yan contributed reporting to this post.

London’s Luton airport has suspended flights following soaring temperatures in the UK on Monday. 

In a statement posted on Twitter on Monday afternoon, the airport said that “a surface defect was identified on the runway,” following high temperatures. 

Some more context: On Friday, Britain’s Met Office issued its first ever “red” warning for extreme heat for Monday and Tuesday, with temperatures predicted to reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in some parts of the country. 

Firefighters try to control a forest fire in Louchats, in the Gironde area of southwestern France, on July 17.

At least 24,000 people have been evacuated in southwest France due to wildfires, authorities said Monday.

“Despite the important ground and air means committed, the situation is not resolved,” the Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Gironde prefecture said in a tweet. Since Monday morning, 300 more hectares (741 acres) of land have burned, totaling some 14,300 hectares (more than 35,000 acres), according to the prefecture.

According to Meteo France, the country’s national meteorological service, the country has seen only eight days since May when average daily temperatures were below aggregated summer average temperatures.

In the remaining 39 days, daily temperatures have been above average temperatures observed between 1991 and 2020 for this time of year, according to Meteo France data.

Authorities in Spain, Portugal and Italy are battling to control the ongoing heat wave as Monday sees intense temperatures scorch areas across the European continent.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Monday that he wanted to share evidence that “climate change kills,” as he visited the Extremadura region ravaged by wildfires in Western Spain.

“I would like to share the evidence and it is that climate change kills, kills people as we have seen, kills our ecosystem, our biodiversity,” Sanchez said.

“It also destroys our most valuable assets, societies find themselves affected by these changes, their houses, homes, businesses, their cattle.”

Sanchez continued to say that so far this year more than 70,000 hectares (more than 172,900 acres) have been destroyed as a consequence of the fires in our country.

Almost the entire country faces an extreme fire risk with many regions now classed as an “extreme” level of heat, according to Spain’s national weather agency AEMET.

Spain is also mourning the loss of a firefighter Daniel Gullón Vara, a firefighter who had been working to extinguish a wildfire in the Zamora province. During his visit to the area, Sanchez offered his condolences and said that Vara represents those “fighting every day on the frontline of the fires.”

In Portugal, around 80 municipalities in 10 districts remain under the highest threat level for wildfires, especially in the northeastern part of the country, according to the Portuguese weather service, the Institute for the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA).

Nearly 1,000 firefighters, supported by around 300 vehicles and aircraft, are deployed across the country, battling five major wildfires, the Portuguese Civil Protection Authority said in its latest update. The largest fire is currently raging in Fundão, in the Castelo Branco district.

Temperatures in Portugal have cooled down slightly after reaching record-breaking levels for July last week. On Monday, they were hovering just below 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in most parts of the country.

Despite a short respite, IPMA forecasts temperatures will go up again from Wednesday, rising to around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas.

Regions in Italy that are worst hit by drought are being asked to ration water as the country declared a state of emergency earlier this month.

In areas near the Po River valley, cities are cutting water supplies during the night, and residents are prevented from washing their cars and watering their gardens.

In the small town of Castenaso, close to Bologna, an order from the town’s mayor has prohibited hairdressers and barbers from washing clients’ hair twice in an attempt to save water before water supplies run too low.

In Milan, Italy’s financial hub, the mayor has ordered all ornamental fountains turned off and prohibited the washing of private vehicles or watering of gardens and lawns.

And Rome is offering free swimming pool entrance tickets for people over 70 years old “to offer them refreshment facing the high summer temperatures,” according to Rome’s City Council.

Wales has recorded its hottest day on record, with temperatures reaching 35.3 degrees Celsius (95.54 degrees Fahrenheit) in Gogerddan, near Aberystwyth, the UK Met Office said Monday.

In a tweet, the Met Office said the previous record high was of 35.2 degrees Celsius (95.36 degrees Fahrenheit) recorded at Hawarden Bridge, Flintshire, on Aug. 2, 1990.

On Friday, the Met Office issued its first ever “red” warning for extreme heat for Monday and Tuesday, with temperatures predicted to reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in some parts of the country.

The UK is currently facing travel disruptions due to exceptionally high temperatures. 

The heatwave is fueling wildfires in parts of Europe — France, Spain and Portugal in particular.