The heat wave that has been hitting southern Europe for days due to the entry of a mass of warm air from the Sahara is already heading to France and the United Kingdom, where record temperatures could be recorded on Monday, while it continues to punish Spain and Portugal with temperatures over 40 degrees and numerous forest fires.
UK temperature record
The British government reinforced ambulance services for this Monday and Tuesday as part of the measures in the face of the heat wave that will devastate the country, which is expected to exceed 40 degrees.
The Bureau of Meteorology of the country extended the amber alert for extreme temperatures throughout England, Wales and southern Scotland. It also plans to raise it to red alert this Monday for the first time in the London, Manchester, and York area, with the possibility of reaching 41 degrees.
This would break the record for the hottest temperature ever recorded in the UK, above the current 38.7 degrees reached in Cambridge in 2019.
More than a dozen train companies have asked the British not to travel during the first days of the week, unless it is strictly necessary. A total of 21 operators warned that their services will be affected, since there will be speed restrictions throughout the train network.
Some educational centers have also chosen to close this coming week. Others will remain open without requiring students to wear the uniform, normally compulsory in the British education system.
Highest temperatures in France
France will experience this Monday the peak of the heat wave which for days has affected especially the south of the country, with temperatures of 40 degrees in some of the 15 departments in red vigilance and records of maximums in points of the Atlantic coast.
Those 15 departments placed on red alert by Méteo France are all on the Atlantic coast and include those in the Brittany region, known for being habitually subjected to an oceanic regime that guarantees high humidity and mild temperatures, but which this Monday could experience maximum unprecedented 40 degrees in the port of Brest and 41 in the capital Rennes.
The city of Paris, which has so far been protected from this extreme heat, will also be affected with a forecast maximum of 39 degrees. Temperatures of that order will be repeated in the west and in the interior of France.
The meteorological services, which have put the entire country on some level of vigilance due to the heat, except for one of the two departments of Corsica, calculate that on Tuesday there will be a noticeable drop in temperatures with the arrival of an Atlantic front. That day the heat will be concentrated in the east, with highs between 37 and 40 degrees.
In the southwest, a few tens of kilometers south of Bordeaux, two major fires continue to burn, which since they broke out on Tuesday afternoon have already burned nearly 11,500 hectares of pine forest.
Extreme heat and fires in Spain
In Spain, the heat wave that almost the entire country is suffering after the entry of a mass of warm air from the Sahara leaves maximum temperatures above 40 degrees at various points on its eighth day.
The phenomenon put three regions in the north of the country on red alert this Sunday for “extreme risk” of heat and another ten on notice for “major risk.”
This weekend the temperatures in almost the entire country have been around 40 degrees and for this Sunday the State Meteorological Agency predicted that it will reach 43 in points of Extremadura.
As this entity advanced to EFE, the specialists foresee that the heat wave will have a brief relief during Tuesday, although it is probable that a new rise in temperatures will start on Wednesday, with the potential continuation of this episode that is already considered « length”.
Meanwhile, the fire continues to devastate thousands of hectares in Spain in forest fires from end to end of the country, which keep rural populations on edge while an important device with the support of the Army tries to put out the flames.
Some fires have been active for days, such as the one that has burned some 9,000 hectares in Monsagro (northwest) since last Monday, where the weather conditions make extinction tasks difficult and on this day the wind forced the aerial means that fight against the fire, according to emergency service sources.
Belgium on alert
The Belgian government will activate the orange alert starting this Monday in the face of a heat wave that can increase thermometers to 40 degrees next Tuesday.
Although it is an unusual temperature in the country, Belgium has had particularly hot weeks in recent summers, to the point that in 2019 the red alert was activated for the first time, in a year in which 40 degrees were exceeded. Also in 2020 that level of risk was activated.
The Royal Institute of Meteorology recommended that the population drink water frequently and shelter in cool places and the railway service announced that it will suspend 34 trains on Tuesday at rush hours to avoid possible technical failures due to high temperatures.
