Tens of millions of people across western Europe are sweltering under unusually high temperatures.

A maximum red heatwave alert covers more than half of France, where temperatures have broken the average record for June. The heat is also touching 40 Celsius in Spain and Portugal.

The BBC’s climate editor Justin Rowlatt tells us how European governments are attempting to mitigate the effects of extreme heat, both now and long into the future.

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Chapters:

00:00 Introduction
00:27 Is this heatwave a sign of what’s to come?
01:31 Weather forecast projections for the next few decades
03:03 Reflection on Europe heatwave in 2003
04:23 How are governments responding to heatwaves?
06:08 Are countries acting urgently on climate change?
07:25 How much worse could it get?
08:18 Could urbanisation be reversed because of extreme temperatures?

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Heatwave conditions that have left Spain, France and the UK sweltering for days are set to shift to the east, with forecasters in Germany and the Czech Republic now warning of extreme conditions.

In France, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has announced that the health alert level is being raised to its highest, to boost hospital staffing and protect the vulnerable.

United Nations climate change chief Simon Stiell has said “Europe’s savage heatwave has the fingerprints of the climate crisis all over it”, and he has called for “a faster shift to renewables, protecting forests and boosting climate resilience”.

00:00-2:40 – How the heatwave is hitting Europe
2:40-7:47 – How to stay safe during the heatwave
7:47-11:31 – How the heatwave has impacted the UK

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#Heatwave #Europe #BBCNews

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Global fertility rates are at record lows globally, and governments around the world are urging couples to grow their families.

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France has recorded its hottest day since records began in 1947, breaking a record set a day earlier, as an early summer heatwave grips western Europe. France’s national temperature indicator – an average of day and night temperatures across dozens of locations – hit 30C, up from 29.8C a day earlier.

In the UK a red heat alert is in place for large areas of England, with a temperature of 36.1C recorded in Hampshire, the highest ever recorded in June. Forecasters predict temperatures could soon hit 38C.

The heatwave has caused deaths and serious disruption, particularly in France, Spain and Italy and is spreading to other parts of western Europe, with a new orange alert for dangerous weather in place for parts of the Netherlands.

Temperatures are expected to peak in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany in the next few days, with the heatwave also forecast to affect eastern Europe, where severe heat warnings have been issued in Poland, Croatia and Hungary.

Climate change is driving up temperatures around the world – but particularly in Europe – which some experts believe is heating up twice as fast as the global average.

Reeta Chakrabarti presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Helena Wilkinson and Justin Rowlatt.

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