Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A punishing heatwave that has shattered temperature records across Europe claimed at least 18 lives in France on Monday, including two young children who were found dead inside a family car in the southeastern town of Carpentras, as authorities scrambled to respond to a crisis that has triggered school closures, red alerts, and an emergency government meeting.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu was scheduled to hold a crisis meeting on Tuesday after temperatures soared to unprecedented levels for June, with the western wine city of Bordeaux recording a staggering 41.9 degrees Celsius (107.4 degrees Fahrenheit) — breaking a record set just last August. In Poitiers, in central France, the mercury reached 41.2°C, surpassing a previous high set in 1947. Paris was also on track to record its hottest June day, with preliminary figures from Météo-France showing temperatures reaching 38.4°C.
The most tragic incident occurred when two children, aged two and four, were found unconscious by their mother in the family car outside their home in Carpentras, southeast France. First responders were unable to resuscitate them. A prosecutor in Carpentras said the heatwave was believed to be the most likely cause of their deaths, and the mother was also treated by emergency services.
Three elderly people, aged between 80 and 95, also died over the weekend in the Bordeaux region from heat-related health complications, local government official Sophie Brocas told France TV. The heatwave also contributed to a surge in water-related accidents, with 13 drowning deaths reported from Sunday into Monday as people sought relief in rivers and other unsupervised bodies of water. French Civil Safety service spokesperson Jérôme Boulanger urged people to "swim only in places that are supervised". Drowning deaths spiked by 172 per cent in France last year during heatwaves, authorities noted.
The extreme weather forced more than 1,350 schools across France to close or adjust their schedules on Monday. Météo-France expanded its heatwave red alert to more than half of the country's departments, affecting some 39 million people. France's average daytime and nighttime temperatures broke a record for the month of June, reaching 29.2°C.
The heatwave is being driven by a weather pattern known as an "Omega Block," named after the Greek letter because of the shape it forms in the atmosphere. The system traps a large mass of hot air over central Europe while cooler air sits on either side. Clair Barnes, a research associate in extreme weather and climate at Imperial College London, explained that the pattern is "drawing warm air up from North Africa, from the Sahara, and that's why we have this really intense heat. It's very slow moving and it means there's kind of no wind, no breeze for respite". She added that heatwaves and storms are being intensified by climate change, pushing temperatures higher.
The dangerous conditions extended beyond France. In Spain's traditionally cooler northern city of San Sebastián, temperatures were expected to reach 40°C, more than double the city's historic average for June 22. Italy issued heatwave red alerts for 12 cities. Britain's Met Office issued a rare red warning for extreme heat, forecasting temperatures could exceed 39°C during a four-day heatwave, easily breaking the June record of 35.6°C set in 1957 and 1976. Just weeks earlier, Britain had shattered its record high temperature for May. The Reuters Climate Monitor showed Europe as the continent furthest from its historic norm on Monday, while a recent World Meteorological Organization report found Europe is warming at more than double the global rate.
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