Scientists say heatwaves and storms are becoming more intense due to human-driven climate change.
At least eight people have died across Europe as an early summer heatwave grips much of the continent, triggering health alerts and forest fires and forcing the closure of a nuclear reactor at a Swiss power plant.
Authorities in Spain’s Catalonia region said about 14,000 people were ordered to stay indoors due to two wildfires that broke out almost simultaneously in the province of Lleida.
In one of the blazes near the city of Cosco, “two people were found lifeless by firefighters,” the fire and emergency service said in a statement on Wednesday.
The exact cause of the fire was unclear, but the service said the recent heat, dry conditions and strong winds increased the intensity of the flames.
Tuesday’s fire in the Catalonia region burned several farms and affected an area stretching about 40km (25 miles) before being contained, officials said.
On Wednesday, Spanish officials reported two more people died due to the heatwave in Extremadura and Cordoba.
Spain is in the midst of an intense heatwave with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in many places, and several heat records were set for the month of June.
France also experienced its hottest June since 2003.
Its energy minister reported two deaths linked to the heat with 300 others taken to hospital on Wednesday.
Weather forecaster Meteo France said red alerts remained for several areas of central France, and Catherine Vautrin, the health and families minister, said authorities should remain vigilant.
“In the coming days, we’ll see the consequences, particularly on the most vulnerable, and I’m thinking particularly of the elderly,” she said.
Two men over the age of 60 also died from the heat on beaches in Sardinia in Italy, the ANSA news agency reported.
In Germany, temperatures were forecast to peak at 40C (104F) in some areas, making it the hottest day of the year. Fire brigades were also tackling several forest fires in the eastern states of Brandenburg and Saxony on Wednesday.
Storm warnings issued
Italy, France and Germany have also warned of the risk of powerful storms due to excessive warming in unstable atmospheres.
Violent storms in the French Alps late on Monday triggered mudslides, disrupting rail traffic between Paris and Milan.
The Swiss utility Axpo shut down one reactor at the Beznau Nuclear Power Plant and halved output at another on Tuesday because of the high temperature of river water.
Water is used for cooling and other purposes at nuclear power plants, and restrictions were expected to continue as temperatures are monitored.
Scientists said heatwaves have arrived earlier this year, spiking temperatures by up to 10C (50F) in some regions as warming seas encouraged the formation of a heat dome over much of Europe, trapping hot air masses.
Greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels are a cause of climate change, they said, with deforestation and industrial practices being other contributing factors. Last year was the planet’s hottest on record.
“Extreme heat is testing our resilience and putting the health and lives of millions at risk,” Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, told the Reuters news agency.
“Our new climate reality means we can no longer be surprised when temperatures reach record highs each year,” she added.