 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Europe gasps as heatwave temperatures soar
Paris (AFP) Jul 19, 2006 Much of western Europe sweltered under tropical temperatures Wednesday, as Britain reported the hottest July day on record and France said nine people may have died because of the weather. "Nine deaths have so far been registered which could be due to the heatwave," Health Minister Xavier Bertrand said. Most of the deaths took place in the southwest of the country, which has been hardest hit, but in the eastern town of Macon a 53-year-old labourer died of hyperthermia after working on the roads in 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 Fahrenheit) heat. On Tuesday in The Netherlands, two people died on the opening day of an annual walking event at Nijmegen, and Germany and Spain have also recorded two heat-related deaths each. Meteorologists in London said that the 36.3 degrees Centigrade recorded south of London made Wednesday the hottest July day since 1911, when records began. The all-time record of 38.5 degrees Centigrade, set in August 2003, still stands. Local authorities in Britain poured gravel on roads to counter the effects of melting asphalt, and some schools and offices were closed. Lions at a zoo in Colchester were given ice cubes containing blood. The heatwave recalled the summer of 2003, when more than 35,000 mainly elderly people died across Europe as a result of dehydration and heat stroke, but medical authorities in France and elsewhere said lessons had been learned and a repeat was unlikely. In France the electricity supplier EDF was buying in energy from neighbouring countries because of the high use of air-conditioning and falling output from hydro-electric and nuclear power stations as a result of low, warm rivers. The soaring temperatures were likely to fall somewhat from Wednesday evening with the arrival of thunderstorms from the west, but it will remain hot, forecasters in France said. Some 30 departments -- or counties -- issued weather alerts because of the risk of violent storms and flash-flooding. The head of a French research laboratory said the unusually high temperatures were linked to global warming. "The rules are changing, there's no doubt about it. This is the start of a process. We can expect heatwaves to be more frequent and more extreme as a result of the general rise in temperatures linked to greenhouse gas emissions," said Herve Le Treut, director of the National Centre for Scientific Research. Germany said the exceptional heat had forced up ozone pollution to potentially harmful levels in parts of the country and only storms could clear the air. "We are at the start of a cycle of ozone pollution," said an official at the federal bureau for the environment. In Belgium, 38 degrees C were recorded in the city of Ghent. The London underground system, the oldest in the world, was a furnace on Tuesday with a record temperature of 47 C. Bus passengers fared even worse, with temperatures on buses in the City of London, the main financial district, reaching 52 C. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Dirt, rocks and all the stuff we stand on firmly
Seven injured in storms in Germany
Berlin (AFP) Jul 23, 2006 Seven people were injured overnight Saturday when a tornado hit Karlsruhe in southwestern Germany and heavy summer storms lashed the country's Bavaria region, local authorities said Sunday. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
