Less than a month after the last heat wave, the mercury in the thermometer rose again to an unusually high level on Monday in the Iberian Peninsula, where 42 degrees Celsius were measured, and in the south of France.
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The increasingly frequent occurrence of heat waves is a direct consequence of climate change, scientists say, because the strength, duration, and frequency of greenhouse gas emissions are increasing.
In Spain, the highest temperature, 43.3 degrees Celsius, was measured in Candeleda, in the center, announced the Spanish meteorological service Aemet. In other cities in the south and in the center, such as Seville and Badajoz, 42 degrees were measured.
This new heat wave, the second in a month after the one in mid-June, is “quite unusual” in a country where high temperatures in summer are not uncommon, Ruben del Campo, a spokesman for Aemet, said on Monday.
High temperatures in Portugal too
The heat wave started on Sunday and could “last nine to 10 days, so it could be the third-longest heat wave in Spain since 1975,” he told France Presse.
–Â Climate change is the cause of more frequent and stronger heat waves – added Del Campo, reminding us that their number has doubled in the country in the last twelve years.
The hardest time will be between Tuesday and Thursday, warns Aemet, who could not say whether the absolute temperature record recorded in Spain will be broken (47.4 degrees measured in Montoro, in Cordoba province, in August 2021).
In neighboring Portugal , the temperature rose to 44 degrees in some places over the weekend. Although the temperature was slightly lower on Monday, 42 degrees are still expected in the vicinity of Evora, in the southeast, according to the national meteorological service, which announces a new increase in temperature on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Fires and orange warning
High temperatures these days caused fires in the center of the country.
On Monday, the heat wave also affected France from the southwest, Meteo-France announced. Temperatures in a good part of the French territory exceeded 30 degrees Celsius, and from Tuesday they could reach 39 in some places.
The peak of this wave will most likely be “between Saturday and Tuesday” on July 19, adds Sebastian Leas of Meteo-France, noting that it is too early to compare the phenomenon to the deadly heat of the summer of 2003.
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In Great Britain, where 33 degrees Celsius are expected on Monday and Tuesday in the southwest, the National Meteorological Service issued a so-called orange warning for “extreme heat” from Sunday, with temperatures above 35 degrees.
