Europe is braced for a new heatwave after a record-breaking summer that has seen exceptionally high temperatures fuel the intensification of wildfires.
The continent is on high alert this week, with amber health alerts coming into force on Tuesday across the UK as the country braces for temperatures of up to 36°C. Almost three-quarters of England is now officially in drought. July was the driest month on record for England, and little rain is forecast for the rest of August.
The dry, hot weather has also led to wildfires breaking out around the country. Firefighters worked overnight in the New Forest National Park in Hampshire, after a van caught fire and the blaze spread. A blaze in the Holme Fen Nature Reserve in Eastern England has been burning for days, with peat fires proving particularly hard to stamp out.
The drought also affects France, where nearly 70 per cent of the country is subject to water-use restrictions. More than 60 per cent of groundwater tables showed below-normal levels as of August 1.
Satellite images distributed by the EU's climate change agency Copernicus show greenery retreating across France during the month of August over the past three years. The average temperature for June–July in western Europe was the highest on record, at 21.62°C, or 2.79°C above average, Copernicus said earlier this week.
Most of France will suffer high temperatures this week before storms are expected to come in over the weekend, with a peak of over 40°C reached on Tuesday afternoon in the southern region of the Var. Paris temperatures are expected to reach 37°C on Thursday.
Smoking ban
Repeated heatwaves, which started early this year in June, have disrupted transport and power generation. Trains in central France are to be cancelled during the hottest time of the day later in the week due to insufficient air conditioning.
Historic forest fires that hit the country last month have been brought under control, but extraordinary precautions have been taken to prevent new ones. The mayor of the Ile d'Yeu off the west coast has banned smoking in all public spaces throughout the summer.
In Italy, all major cities have been on red alert for days, bringing the entire surveillance network on the highest warning level simultaneously for the first time. Authorities have adjusted the opening times of major tourist attractions, with the Rome's Colosseum and Pantheon open later in the evenings to avoid exposing tourists to health risks during the hottest time of the day. Forest fires caused the recent evacuation of at least 200 people from Lake Garda, a popular tourist destination in northern Italy.
Further east on the continent, low river levels have threatened nuclear-powered electricity generation. Romania's state-owned nuclear power producer Nuclearelectrica could shut down its last working reactor on Thursday as Danube river levels continued to fall, despite efforts to divert cooling water to the plant.
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The dried bed of Howden Reservoir, central England, which is at only 48 per cent of its storage capacity. EPA -
This aerial image shows the scorched grass surrounding the area at Stonehenge near Amesbury, Wiltshire in south-west England. AFP -
A drone view shows golfers playing on a parched fairway at Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club. Reuters -
Escaping the hot sun in the dry grass of Green Park as temperatures rise in London. EPA -
Sun-scorched grassland around St Albans Cathedral. Reuters -
People make their way along a path through the parched grass of Primrose Hill in London. AFP -
The exposed riverbed of the Thames after it dried up in Ashton Keynes, about 10km from its source. Reuters -
Dry conditions in Bray, west of London. AFP -
Scorched grassland and smoke rising from the Tintwistle Moor wildfire, near Glossop. Reuters -
A person walks through parched parkland in Greenwich, London. EPA -
People walk through dry grass across Leyton Flats in east London. EPA -
Low water levels at Walthamstow Wetlands, London. EPA
