Extreme heat returns to Europe and threatens the Swiss Alps

Thermometers are shooting up again in Europe, with very high temperatures for this time of year in countries like Italy, Spain, France or Greece, but also in Switzerland, where the heat it will ascend 12 kilometers and will carry hot air to the Alps: zero degrees are expected (something unprecedented) at 5,300 meters.

A rise in temperatures that is not usual at this time of year, in the last section of what is considered a meteorological summer in the northern hemisphere, which runs from June 1 to August 31, and which comes after July set a record in the half the world thermometers

Organizations like NASA or copernicus recently confirmed that July has been the hottest month since measurements have been made and, in fact, according to the European climate change monitoring programme, last month the planet’s temperature exceeded the average for the pre-industrial period (1850-1900) by 1.5ºC. ).

With these wickers, August is also very hot for the time in many European countries, where, in addition to the high daytime temperatures, it is difficult to fall asleep with more and more tropical nights (above 20 degrees) or even torrid (above 25).

A few days of heat begin today in Switzerland, where it is expected that this weekend the record of zero degrees will be broken near 5,300 meters high and not below zero, an elevation never reached, according to the national meteorological agency, MeteoSwiss .

Experts have described this situation as if a heat dome extended tens of kilometers high, so there will also be hot air in mountain regions where the Swiss often go to escape the high temperatures in the cities.

Only twice in history has the zero degree bar been located above 5,000 meters, on July 25, 2022 and on the 20th of the same month in 1995.

The Swiss meteorologist Josué Gehring explained that the drought situation in Switzerland aggravates the heat wave since the hot air is absorbed by the soil and plants, which immediately re-inject it into the atmosphere. “If the humidity were higher there would be an evaporation that would consume part of the heat”, he explained.

Italy today maintains five cities on heat alert, with peaks of up to 40 degrees that will last for at least a week, especially in the center-south, while an alert has been issued for heavy rains in the north of the country.

On red alert for heat, the highest level, this Friday they are in Florence, Bologna, Perugia, Bolzano and Brescia, all in the north, while in orange are Rome, Latina, Verona, Rieti, Frosinone and Campobasso, in the center and south, where temperatures will increase.

Also in France, extreme heat affects a part of the south and southeast of the country from the middle of the week, also extending to the north, and it will intensify until next Tuesday or Wednesday, with temperatures that may occasionally exceed 40 degrees. .

The French meteorological service has this Friday 19 departments of the interior, in the southern half, on orange alert for suffocating heat, practically a fifth of the country.

Based on its forecast for the next few days, Météo France anticipates that this will be “the hottest episode of summer 2023″ and it could also reach record levels due to its intensity and duration at this time of the year, since temperatures will be up to between 8 and 14 degrees above normal at that time of the year.

A new heat wave, the fourth of the summer, will arrive in Spain next Sunday and will last at least until Tuesday, the Spanish State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) confirmed this Friday.

Today there are already twelve regions of the northeast and the eastern interior, in addition to the islands, on alert for heat, five of them in orange level due to temperatures of up to 40 degrees, but in the coming days a rise in the thermometer is expected due to strong insolation above a warm and stable air mass.

On Monday the thermal rise will continue slightly in general and it could exceed 40 degrees in large areas of the southwest and northeast quadrant and 35-37 degrees in areas of the northern and southern plateau of Galicia, and no change is expected on Tuesday significant.

Greece has suffered a new heat wave since yesterday, but it will be of less intensity than those suffered in July, one of the hottest months in the last 50 years.

The increase in temperatures across the country began yesterday Thursday, with the mercury at 38 °C in many areas. According to the latest forecast, high temperatures are expected to persist until the end of August. Meteorologists predict values ​​of between 36 and 38 °C in the coming days in the east of the country, including Attica, while on the islands the temperature will reach 35 °C, and in the west and north it will reach 40 degrees. .

Turkey has also experienced a heat wave this week, combined with high levels of humidity, to the point of breaking the all-time temperature record on Wednesday, when the thermometer marked 49.5 degrees in a municipality in western Anatolia, almost half a degree more than the previous maximum, measured in the southeast of the country in summer 2021.

Although temperatures around 47 degrees are not uncommon during the month of July in southeastern Anatolia, this year the extension of the hot season until mid-August is striking, affecting practically the entire country.

The Mediterranean island of Cyprus also suffers from one of the hottest summers in recent decades. In July, a record 16 consecutive days of temperatures around 40C were recorded, reaching 44.6C on July 15, the third-highest on record since 1983. In addition, seven people were hospitalized for heat stroke and one died.

After a gray week, the skies in Belgium will clear from today until the beginning of next week, with temperatures in the center of the country around 29 degrees and no precipitation, a rare sight even in the height of summer for the Central European country although meteorologists do not believe that there is a heat wave.

Source: EFE