Record heat wave in Europe: 10 dead, health alerts and transport chaos in France and Great Britain

This unprecedented heat in France, with temperatures already exceeding 30 °C in the west, has no record in May. On Monday, in Great Britain, It was the hottest May day in historywith 34 degrees.

Météo-France forecasts a Tuesday even hotter. Eight departments in western France are under orange alert for a heat wave, issued since midnight on Monday.

The Sports Ministry indicated that competitions could be cancelled. The French government reported seven deaths in the country, five of them by drowning.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu will chair an inter-ministerial meeting on the heat wave on Thursday.

This Tuesday, the temperature exceeded 30 °C in the west. According to La Chaîne Météo, the temperature had already exceeded 30 °C in many cities in western France in the morning. In Cherbourg, at 11:00, the monthly record had already been broken with 29.1 °C. On Monday, the city of Bordeaux reached 39 degrees.

The Sports Ministry called on Sunday night for Extreme caution will be taken in sporting activities, since temperatures are especially high in France this Monday.

On Sunday the death of a participant in the Pyrenees race in Paris was recorded. Another sporting event was interrupted, at the request of firefighters, in Maisons-Alfort, in the Val-de-Marne department, after a dozen runners were hospitalized in critical condition.

When the thermometer spikes, athletes and some workers, even those in excellent health, can fall victim to this little-known phenomenon: exercise-induced heat stroke. Cases remain rare, but the prognosis can be very serious.

“Heat stroke can suddenly claim the lives of apparently healthy young people,” wrote Dr. Laurent Grélot, a physiologist at Aix-Marseille University.

This sudden onset is even more dramatic because meteorological factors (humidity, solar radiation, etc.) and individual characteristics (body type, sex, level of fatigue, exposure to toxins or medications, recent infection, etc.) are extremely variable, making it impossible to predict the phenomenon.

Appearing on RMC’s morning show this Tuesday, Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra stated that there could be cancellations of sporting events in the coming days, when The Roland Garros tennis tournament is being played.

“We will not only take into account the heat. We will also consider the humidity, the wind, the amount of sun on the course, etc. An organizer may decide to suspend or postpone a competition,” he said.

A 28 year old woman He died on Sunday from exercise-induced hyperthermia. while participating in a race and indoor fitness event in Chassieu (Rhône), held in an air-conditioned room.

In France, the primary responsibility lies with the event organizer. The operational documents of the Ministry of Sports require relevant organizations to establish an operational protocol in the event of a heat wave and to determine the conditions for cancel (or postpone) the event in case of extreme heat.

For now, there are no plans to temporarily close any schools. But the maintenance of the exams is up for debate in France if this heat continues. School facilities are prepared for freezing winters, but not for sweltering summers.

Crowded but unsupervised beaches and early flowering of trees: the exceptional heat recorded in France for May is disrupting routine in tourist and coastal areas, as well as on agricultural farms. The hotels in Normandy and Brittany were full this long weekend for the Pentecost holiday in France.

In Lacanau (Gironde), whose waves are popular with surfers, three beaches were patrolled during the Pentecost weekend. However, a man in his sixties drowned one kilometer from the nearest lifeguard station.

Not far away, in Pointe de Socoa, Météo-France recorded a temperature of 35.9 degrees Celsius at 17:00 on Monday, a record that surpassed the previous one set in 1996.

High temperatures and a mild, rainy spring have accelerated the flowering of some grape varieties by two weeks, according to Jean-Louis Portal, viticulturist and horticulturist from Meynes, in the Gard region, who believes that the harvest of white grape varieties is likely to begin in early August, rather than after August 15 as last year.

Two TGV trains heading from Paris to Nice they were blocked near Lyon without air conditioning due to a power failure. Hundreds of passengers were stranded on the roads and with little water.

Monday was the hottest May night ever recorded in Britain. Thunderstorms are now forecast in Britain, as the country suffers a record heat wave in May.

The Met Office issued a yellow alert for Tuesday, from Bath and Reading to Lincoln and Sheffield, for isolated storms with lightning, hail and strong winds from 3pm to 10pm.

“While there is a chance of up to 30mm of rain falling in an hour, the rest of the country will remain hot and sunny,” he added.

On Tuesday, the UK Health Security Agency extended its heat health alerts until Thursday and raised its yellow alert in the southwest to orange. The agency said high temperatures would cause “significant impacts on health and social care services,” including an increase in deaths, particularly among those over 65 or those with health problems. On Friday, it issued its first amber health alert of the year.

Age UK recommended stay inside the houses during the hottest hours of the day, between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., and take cold baths or showers frequently.

Unprecedented weather caused chaos in railway transport, after South Western Rail (SWR) canceled services across the south of the country. The railway company reported that some of its services in Waterloo were forced to run at a slower speed while the a safety inspection, after smoke was detected on the tracks between the station and Vauxhall.

The British Meteorological Office (Met Office) indicated that Monday night was the hottest May night in history, as temperatures at Kenley airfield, south of London, did not drop below 21.3 ° C.

The heatwave is expected to continue on Tuesday, with temperatures potentially reaching 35C all day in some areas of England and Wales, and even 36C. Southwestern France could reach 40°C on Friday, something unprecedented for this time of year.

A record high temperature for May was recorded on Monday, reaching 34.8°C in Kew Gardens, south-west London. The Met Office recorded 12 locations where the temperature record was broken over the bank holiday yesterday, including Suffolk, Berkshire and Warwickshire, while 97 of its stations reached or exceeded 30C.

Many places in England and Wales will reach the heatwave threshold on Tuesday, with some having experienced five days of intense heat by Wednesday.

To be considered a heat wave, temperatures must reach or exceed a specific threshold for three consecutive days.

Temperatures will begin to gradually drop by mid-week. But the weather will remain mostly dry, with some sunny periods.