PARIS.- “We are facing an unprecedented continental heat wave”stressed the climatologist Davide Faranda in statements to RFI.
A situation that endangers public health on a continent where The heat caused the death of more than 60,000 people a year in 2023 and 2024according to estimates by specialized institutes. And, indeed, in recent days alert levels have been raised in Spain, Germany, Switzerland and even in the United Kingdom, which this Wednesday broke the temperature record for the month of June.
According to a data analysis carried out by AFP, At least 94 million people in Europe will be exposed to higher temperatures this Wednesday at 35°C, with France and Spain as the most affected countries.
The agency also estimates that maximum temperatures will exceed 30°C for more than 350 million inhabitants of the continent—not counting Turkey—that is, about two thirds of the European population.
The calculation combines forecasts from the German meteorological service with demographic projections for 2025 from the Joint Research Center of the European Union, and coincides with estimates from the Austrian NGO Klimadashboard.
According to AFP, around 50 million people in France and more than 20 million in Spain will face temperatures above 35°C, while Almost the entire continental population of both countries will register values above 30°C.
The heat wave will also reach Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Germany and Hungary, where extreme heat conditions are expected.
In Germany, it is possible that 40°C will be exceeded this Thursday and Friday in the west and southwest, areas where the national temperature record (41.2°C) could be broken. The heatwave has already caused an increase in the number of drownings. Deutsche Welle reported at least six deaths over the weekend.
Strong heat waves are affecting transportation and schools. On Sunday, emergency services had to treat several heat-affected passengers at Frankfurt airport after their plane remained on the tarmac for more than an hour due to an air conditioning failure. Some educational centers have applied the “Hitzefrei” (heat break)a measure that allows classes to be suspended at noon, as has happened in Kehl (Baden-Württemberg), according to ICI Alsace.
On Wednesday, almost everything Belgiumwith the exception of the coast, will go to orange alert level, equivalent to France’s orange surveillance. The Royal Meteorological Institute warned that the heat “It will only intensify in the coming days“, as maximums above 35 ° C are expected in most parts of the country from Wednesday. According to the IRM, this week could be “the hottest ever recorded in Belgium”, with an average temperature above 27 ° C.
In Swisson Monday the thermometer exceeded 36°C for the first time this year and temperature records for the month of June were broken, especially in Bern (34.5°C). The regions of Basel, Geneva and Sion have been placed on red alert (level 4 out of 5, “significant risk of circulatory disorders and physical discomfort”). “The highest temperatures are yet to come,” warns *MétéoSuisse*, and the heat wave is expected to “continue at least until next weekend.”
The Ministry of Public Health of Italy This Tuesday, a red alert was declared due to a heat wave in 15 cities, including Rome, Milan, Bologna, Florence, Turin and Venice. The move to this maximum level, which had already been activated in some locations at the end of May, is accompanied by official recommendations that urge people to stay indoors during the hottest hours, eat a light diet and cool off with water.
In Spain40 °C was reached this Monday in more than 100 weather stations.
The State Meteorological Agency announced “extremely high” temperatures for the season, both during the day and at night, until Wednesday. Since Monday, “no less than 101 stations (…) have reached or exceeded 40°C,” with a maximum of 45°C recorded in Andújar, Andalusia, according to a message from the agency published on Bluesky. On Tuesday, parts of the north and south of the country were on red alert, especially in the Basque Country, where authorities asked the population to keep windows closed and avoid using appliances that generate heat. This day could become “the hottest in the history of Spain”according to the newspaper The reason.
There is also a maximum alert for the heat wave for this Wednesday and Thursday in part of the south of the United Kingdoma rare phenomenon in the country.
This Wednesday the temperature record for the month of June with 35.7°C. The thermometer had risen to 35.6ºC in 1957 and 1976.
“Maximum temperatures in the shade will exceed 37ºC and could even reach between 38 and 40ºC in some points” in an area that includes London, Birmingham and Cardiff, according to the British meteorological agency Met Office.
