BERLIN — Europeans cooled off in public fountains Wednesday as a new heat wave spread across parts of the continent and was already breaking records.
Belgium and Germany registered their highest-ever temperatures, while the Netherlands saw its hottest day in 75 years.
And the mercury is expected to rise even further.
Paris and other parts of France could see temperatures exceeding 104 degrees on Thursday along with Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland.
The heat is putting pressure on authorities to help protect the elderly and the sick. Air conditioning is not common at homes, offices, schools or hospitals in European cities.
The weather is also aggravating droughts since it hasn’t rained much in many parts of Europe this summer. The combination of heat, wind and possible lightning from thunderstorms also increases the risk of wildfires.
WHY IS IT SO HOT?
The second likely-to-be-record-breaking heat wave in two months in Europe includes some of the same ingredients of the first — hot dry air coming from northern Africa. That hot air is trapped between cold stormy systems in the Atlantic and eastern Europe and forms “a little heat dome,” said Ryan Maue, a private meteorologist in the U.S.
At the end of June, several countries reported record temperatures, and France hit its all-time heat record: 114.8 degrees in the small southern town of Verargues.
IS CLIMATE CHANGE CAUSING THIS?
Heat waves are happening more frequently in large parts of Europe, Asia and Australia, experts say. As the world warms, scientists say there will be more and hotter heat waves, but attributing single events to climate change involves precise computer modeling and calculations.
A team of European climate scientists did a quick, non-peer reviewed analysis of Europe’s June heat wave and found man-made warming made it at least five times more likely.
The heat waves aren’t just because the world is 1 degree Celsius warmer than before the industrial era, but also because climate change and the melting of Arctic sea ice has slowed down the jet stream, which is the river of air that moves weather along, said Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann. The slow jet stream is “a big part of the story when it comes to these very persistent heat extremes we have seen in recent summers,” Mann said in an email.
HOW HOT COULD IT GET THIS WEEK AND WHERE?
Temperatures in France especially are likely to be 27 degrees higher than normal, with Paris likely to break its all-time hottest record mark of 104.7 degrees. Surrounding areas around Paris may hit 106 to 108 degrees, weather experts said.
The Dutch meteorological institute tweeted that Wednesday’s heat wave broke a record that stood for nearly 75 years of the hottest temperature ever recorded in the Netherlands. The Dutch weather service Weerplaza said that the southern city of Eindhoven hit 102.7 degrees Wednesday afternoon.
