In Europe the heat wave moves to the North East, record temperatures

The heat wave that hit Europe is moving to the North East and continues to make its mark temperature record in numerous countries. The highest alert level was issued in France, Swiss, Germania, Austria e Hungary as thermometers continue to break new all-time highs. The department of Bas-Rhin in eastern France recorded for the first time the 40 degrees. In Basel, Switzerland, the mercury hit i 38.8 degreesa peak never seen in the month of June. In Bratislava the temperature did not drop below 26.3 degrees in the night between Friday and Saturday.

“The previous record was 24.8 degrees, recorded on August 4, 2017,” writes the Slovak Meteorological Institute, which predicts maximum temperatures of 39 C during the day. Due to the heat wave, parades scheduled for Pride LGBT they will not take place in Paris and Lyon, just as the music festival was cancelled Solidayswhich was supposed to take place until Sunday in the French capital. Even the Hamburg half marathon has been cancelled. In Switzerland, excessive temperatures forced the closure of the Beznau nuclear power plant.

Health emergency in Europe

In several countries, extreme weather conditions have put the health systems. British and French doctors have warned that hospitals are struggling to cope with calls to emergency roomincreased dramatically: in Paris, for example, there was an increase in80% in the last week.

Critical situation in hospitals

The head of the hospital emergency room Georges Pompidouone of the main hospitals in Paris, described an “extremely serious” situation with “corridors full” of patients, mostly elderly people but also “fifty and sixty year olds”, who had “very high fever”.

Casualties and impact of the heat wave

The authorities reported further 200 deaths in Spain and others in the rest of Europe: elderly people, people with chronic diseaseschildren, adolescents and the homeless. According to AFP calculations, over 420 million people in Europe, or about seven out of ten, were hit yesterday by temperatures above 30 degrees. L’World Meteorological Organization considers it “possible” on Friday that this heat wave is a phenomenon unprecedented in its scale, although it is still too early to confirm this.