Europe is sweltering in a deadly, early heat wave. Here’s why it’s happening
By Laura Paddison, CNN
(CNN) — Temperature records are being smashed across Europe as parts of the continent swelter in a heat wave that is bringing extreme temperatures alarmingly early in the year.
The continent is grappling with a powerful heat dome, a persistent high-pressure system which acts like a lid on a pot, trapping hot air and pushing it downward. It can remain in place for days or even weeks and is a weather phenomenon made more likely and more intense by human-caused climate change.
On Monday, the UK endured its hottest May day on record, with temperatures spiking to 34.8 degrees Celsius (94.6 Fahrenheit) at Kew Gardens in London, breaking the previous record by 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit). Usually heat records are broken by only fractions of a degree.
The average high temperature for London in late May is around 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit).
As temperatures climbed Monday, a wildfire broke out near Arthur’s Seat, a hill in Edinburgh, Scotland, and hundreds of properties in southeast England were left without water as demand spiked.
There was little respite overnight for the UK, which experienced a “tropical night” where temperatures didn’t fall below 20 degrees (68 Fahrenheit).
These temperatures may not sound extreme but are very uncomfortable — even dangerous — in the UK, where most houses are not insulated well enough to keep out heat and only around 5% of homes have air conditioning. A report last week from the UK’s Climate Change Committee warned the UK was “built for a climate that no longer exists.”
There’s a chance the May record could fall again Tuesday, with the UK’s Met Office forecasting temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit).
“While we do occasionally have warm spells in May, what we’re seeing now is unprecedented,” said Stephen Dixon, a Met Office spokesperson. Climate change is increasing the chances of breaking May temperature records, Dixon told CNN. “What was around a 1-in-100 year event is now around a 1-in-33 year event.”
The UK isn’t the only place suffering. Much of Western Europe is facing temperatures 10 to 15 degrees Celsius (18 to 27 Fahrenheit) above normal this week.
France is experiencing “unprecedented” heat for this time of year, according to the weather service Météo France, with Monday its hottest May day on record.
The extreme temperatures are having deadly consequences. There have been “seven deaths directly or indirectly linked to the heat, including at least five from drowning, as well as deaths related to extreme heat during sports events,” Maud Bregeon, a French government spokesperson, told French TV network TF1.
On Sunday, a 53 year-old man died during a running event in Paris and a woman died at a Hyrox sports event in the city of Lyon, according to the Associated Press citing local media reports.
It’s not yet confirmed if the deaths were heat-related, but France’s Minister of Sports, Marina Ferrari, appeared to make a link saying the deaths were “a stark reminder that practicing sports in extreme heat requires absolute vigilance.”
Spain is also experiencing “extraordinarily high temperatures for the time of year,” according to its weather service AEMET, with temperatures in the south forecast to reach up to 40 degrees (104 Fahrenheit) in in the latter half of the week.
Heat is one of the clearest signs of the climate crisis. The planet-heating gases pumped out by burning fossil fuels envelop the planet like a blanket, warming the Earth. Scientists are clear that climate change is fueling more extreme heat waves — and Europe is the planet’s fastest-warming continent.
“We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that heat wave events such as this have been made more likely and more severe due to climate change,” said Peter Thorne, director of ICARUS Climate Research Centre at Maynooth University, Ireland. “But nevertheless many of the records being set, particularly in the UK and France, are mind-bogglingly crazy,” he added.
The consequences are deadly. More than 62,000 people died from heat-related deaths in Europe during the planet’s hottest year on record in 2024. The emerging El Niño, a natural climate pattern which can bring warmer-than-usual global temperatures, could make 2026 and 2027 even hotter.
Scientists warn of even more extreme heat in the years and decades ahead. This year is set to be one of the hottest on record, but it’s still likely to be one of the coolest years we will experience during our lifetimes.
Taylor Ward contributed to this report
The-CNN-Wire
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