Europe gripped by dangerous heatwave
By the Climate Centre
Amid a dangerous heatwave across Europe that’s forecast to intensify in places this week, National Societies across the continent have been mobilizing to help people stay safe.
As of today, southern Spain was the worst-affected region, with temperatures in the mid-forties Celsius in the Seville area and a new national record for June of 46°C on Saturday in the town of El Granado, Spain’s national weather service AEMET said.
Spanish Red Cross volunteers have been deployed to support the most vulnerable population groups – the very old and the very young, pregnant women, people working outdoors – and the National Society has launched a public-health information drive to provide advice on how to store medication safely and protect pets.
In the southern coastal city of Malaga, the Red Cross has set up a “climate refuge”, air-conditioned down to the low twenties, to help residents “cope with the heat in comfort and with company, avoiding the isolation and loneliness” that extreme heat can impose, as people are forced to stay indoors.
Hot-weather tips
As of Sunday, red alerts for heat were also in force in parts of Portugal, Italy and Croatia, with numerous other warnings currently or recently in areas of (alphabetically) Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Greece, Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Turkey.
Hellenic Red Cross volunteers have been out and about providing water, essential items and advice to homeless people stuck outdoors in the worst of the heat (photo).
The Greek National Society generally has been raising awareness about the effects of heat and sun exposure on health, as well helping to fight wildfires on the island of Chios.
The Italian Red Cross and its national partners have been distributing safety advice, including how to manage exposure to the sun; and one location where the British Red Cross was active was the popular Ayr beach in south-west Scotland, handing out water and hot-weather tips to people largely unused to dangerous heat but intent on enjoying the sunny weather.
‘Invisible’ mental-health impacts
On Sunday, the Italian health ministry placed all but six monitored cities under its highest heat alert, including holiday destinations like Rome, Milan and Naples, the AP reported.
Serbia registered its highest-ever temperature since records began in the 19th century, according to media reports Sunday, while in Slovenia the hottest June temperature was recorded on Saturday; temperatures also reached 42°C on Friday in North Macedonia.
World Weather Attribution scientists – in a rapid study of the heat in the UK – said last week that with climate change, there is now a 20 per cent chance of experiencing an official heatwave in June in south-east England, up from 2 per cent before human activity warmed the atmosphere.
Climate Centre Chair Debra Roberts will be on a panel of experts this Thursday for a webinar launching the IFRC-Climate Centre flagship report on heat (register).
Themes for the webinar will “a critical discussion of country plans for heat action, the invisible mental health effects of heat, and integrating heat into urban planning, especially in informal settlements,” said the Climate Centre’s Roop Singh.
In Greece, Red Cross volunteers have been out and about providing water, essential items and advice to homeless people stuck outdoors in the worst of the heat. (Photo: Hellenic Red Cross via IFRC)