France has reported 1,000 excess deaths during the heatwave. The French public health agency said most of the heat-related fatalities involved older people and warned the number was expected to rise.
The heatwave would have been “virtually impossible” without human-caused climate change, which has made this week’s soaring night-time temperatures 100 times more likely than they would have been just two decades ago, according to scientists.
HEAT TO RISE AGAIN FURTHER WEST
Luca Mercalli, the president of Italy’s Meteorological Society, said temperatures were set to soar again from Jul 5 to 6.
“The areas affected look broadly the same as in the first wave, including France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and to some extent Britain,” he told Reuters. “With the extreme heat the risk of forest fires increases, but we are also seeing a lot of rainstorms, which obviously mitigates that risk,” he added, noting that storms were very localised so rainfall amounts could vary greatly.
Further tragedies related to the heat were reported at the weekend.
Two boys aged 8 and 10 from Bulgaria were found dead in a hot car in Cyprus on Sunday afternoon, police said. Cyprus is currently experiencing temperatures of around 38°C, which is not classified as a heatwave on the east Mediterranean island for the time of year.
Two cyclists, a 30-year-old and a 71-year-old, died while taking part in an event in the Poland Bike Marathon series in Marki near Warsaw on Sunday.
Temperatures in Poland reached a new record high on Sunday at 40.5°C.