Europe heatwave closes schools, threatens health / Photo: Christophe ARCHAMBAULT - AFP
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Europe heatwave closes schools, threatens health
Workers stewed at their posts and children stayed home from school on Tuesday as a choking early-summer heatwave smothered much of western Europe.
Schools closed and railways advised against travel as Britain, France, Italy and Spain issued red alerts and health warnings for much of their territory in the record-breaking heat.
France sweated through its hottest night ever recorded and reported that 40 people had drowned in the past five days as citizens bathed to cool off.
Scientists have shown that recurring heatwaves are a clear marker of global warming, and warn they are set to become more frequent, longer and more intense, driven by humans' burning of fossil fuels.
Authorities warned of the deadly health risks.
In Barcelona, 76-year-old Jose Farre said it made it harder for him to sleep and even breathe.
"I have a heart condition, I'm diabetic and I feel it a lot," he said, after coming out in the cooler early hours to do his shopping.
"We've gained several degrees between my youth and today... But what bothers you the most is the humidity."
- Heat health danger -
Nearly all of Spain was under a heat alert, with parts of the south and north of the country on the highest warning level.
National weather agency AEMET issued red alerts for "extraordinary danger" in areas around the southern city of Cordoba, the northern city of Bilbao and parts of the northern region of Cantabria.
Authorities urged people to take extra care of vulnerable people, drink water and avoid exertion at the hottest hours -- if possible.
But Reinaldo Garcia, 35, had to go every day to the small air-conditioned kiosk where he sells lottery tickets in Madrid.
"In the afternoon, when the sun hits full-strength on the kiosk, it's like there's no air-conditioning at all," he said. "But I have to work all the same."
Italy's health ministry declared a red heatwave alert in 15 cities including Milan and Rome.
During a red alert the ministry advises people to eat light, stay indoors in the hottest parts of the day and sprinkle themselves with cool water.
- UK schools close -
Dozens of schools in England said they would close early on Tuesday and remain shut for two more days.
"Most of our buildings cannot be cooled adequately and there is little shade outside," one school in southeastern Buckinghamshire said.
The UK's meteorological office issued a rare red heat warning -- for only the second time -- for parts of central and south England on Wednesday and Thursday.
The alert indicates a risk to life and the possibility of major infrastructure being closed.
Temperatures could soar to 40C, unprecedented for the time of the year.
"To see temperatures like this in the UK in June is sobering," said Met Office chief scientist Stephen Belcher.
"Human induced climate change has made events like this more likely and more intense."
The railway line connecting the northeast to London issued a "do not travel" advisory.
Met Office deputy chief forecaster Mark Sidaway warned of "severe and significant impacts" and health risks "even beyond those who are normally more vulnerable to the heat".
- 'Tragic' drownings in France -
France from Monday to Tuesday had its hottest night since records began in 1947, the national weather agency Meteo France said.
The country closed over 1,350 schools on Monday.
Speaking at a crisis meeting, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu warned of "a tragic scourge of drownings", saying 40 mostly young people had drowned since June 18.
In Germany in Monday police said five people had died in fatal swimming accidents over the weekend.
On Monday, two children aged two and four were found dead in a car, believed to be casualties of the heatwave, according to a local prosecutor in the southern town of Carpentras.
Lecornu asked the government to ensure "an endurance plan for hospitals" in the heat.
Economy Minister Roland Lescure at a conference ordered plans to "adapt schools to this new challenge".
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the world to act with "far greater urgency" to limit global warming, warning that fossil fuels were driving twin climate and energy crises.
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