The old continent is in the grip of a merciless heatwave that has destroyed roads and left fatalities in several countries. Authorities are on high alert as temperatures are set to exceed 40 degrees Celsius over the next two days, while scientists attribute the record heatwaves to climate change — a phenomenon that would have been nearly impossible 5 decades ago.
Health authorities across Europe declared a state of maximum alert yesterday as an intense heatwave spread across the continent, causing deaths and cracking road surfaces in Germany.
Temperatures are likely to have already peaked in France and Britain, where June records were broken, but temperatures in Italy are expected to rise further over the next two days, registering this summer's first readings of 40 degrees Celsius.
Extreme heat caused the surface of the A2 motorway in eastern Germany to buckle and crack in several lanes, damaging 30 vehicles, injuring 2 people, and forcing road closures. Cultural landmarks across the continent also shut their doors, while agriculture suffered damage.
The heatwave sweeping Europe is expected to push temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius for a sustained period and to affect at least 150 million people, including more than 50 million in Germany and 30 million in France, according to Agence France-Presse analyses.
AFP's analyses indicate that temperatures will exceed 30 degrees Celsius for more than 420 million people in Europe (excluding Turkey), meaning it will affect around 7 in every 10 people, based on figures drawn from forecasts by the German Meteorological Service and the Joint Research Centre, which align with figures from the Austrian non-governmental organisation Klimadashboard.
Forecasts still indicate that temperatures will exceed 35 degrees Celsius for around 34 million people in France, 17 million in Italy, and 15 million in the Netherlands.
The Dutch meteorological institute issued its first warning of a severe heatwave, which came into effect yesterday across most of the country. Temperature levels of this magnitude are also expected to significantly affect Hungary, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
Austria is experiencing an exceptionally long and intense heatwave without precedent, with temperatures exceeding 35 degrees Celsius recorded across most of the country, amid forecasts that temperatures could rise to 40 degrees in some cities over the next two days.
An international scientific network published a study yesterday concluding that climate change is unequivocally responsible for the severe heatwave striking western Europe — an event that would have been expected to be nearly impossible approximately 50 years ago.
Scientists from the World Weather Attribution network, who study the role of climate disruptions caused by human activities in extreme weather events, confirmed that the very high temperatures recorded both during the day and at night would have been nearly impossible during this time of year in 1976, which itself saw an exceptional summer heat.
The scientists explained that the record heatwave would not have occurred without human-induced climate change, which has increased the likelihood of nighttime temperatures rising this week by 100 times compared with what it was just 2 decades ago.
The research showed that among more than 800 European cities whose data were analysed, 45% either recorded or are expected to record their highest levels of heat stress at the end of the current month of June. Scientists confirm through years of studies that human-induced global warming increases the likelihood of high-temperature heatwaves and makes them more intense.
On a related note, the operator of Britain's electricity transmission network issued a second warning of a possible shortage in electricity supplies due to rising temperatures across Europe, putting the grid under strain.
The National Energy System Operator, which runs Britain's electricity grid, called on power generation companies and suppliers to provide additional generation capacity to bolster reserves in the event of a potential shortfall.
Bloomberg News reported that the operator had issued a similar warning on Wednesday, citing the sharp rise in temperatures across Britain and the European continent as the primary reason for the potential supply shortfall.