Abnormally hot weather has set in Western Europe. In the UK, where the red heat level was first introduced on July 18, the highest temperature ever measured was 40.2 degrees Celsius at Heathrow Airport at one o’clock in the afternoon.
The doctors urged the British not to take to the streets unnecessarily. At the same time, both living and working premises are mostly not adapted to the heat and are not equipped with air conditioners.
The heat has led to the cessation of railway communication – the rails are bent.
The infrastructure, much of which was built in the Victorian era, is simply not designed for such temperatures
admits Transport Minister Grant Shapps.
Germany is also preparing for the 40-degree heat. Belgium and the Netherlands have also introduced a red alert level. In Spain and Portugal, the death toll from the heat has exceeded 1,000.
In France, tens of thousands of people have been evacuated, as well as a zoo from which about 1,000 animals have been taken. Gironde, a region in southwestern France, is engulfed in forest fires. Firefighters are unable to control the flames in dry pine forests. Lost 19,000 hectares of vegetation.
According to weather forecasters, on July 20, the heat will subside, and the hot front, gradually cooling down, will move east. However, they warn: that global warming leads to the fact that until recently abnormal heat becomes a frequent guest.
