France endures 'apocalypse of heat' as record temperatures approach 110 in parts
An unprecedented heat wave sweeping France and the neighboring Iberian Peninsula, feeding raging wildfires, dragged on into Tuesday after hitting all-time high temperatures of nearly 110 degrees Fahrenheit in some parts. Paris recorded its second-hottest day ever at 105 F (40.5 C).
Météo-France, the country's national weather agency, reported over a dozen record-smashing highs on Monday, including a reading of 109 F (42.6 C) in Biscarrosse, a town on the southwest coast.
The city of Nantes, which holds the country's sixth-largest population, recorded a high temperature of 107.6 F (42 degrees Celsius) on Monday. The record in Nantes had previously stood at 104.5 F (40.3 C) for over 70 years, set on July 12, 1949.
Other all-time records broken included highs of 106.5 F (41.4 C) in La Roche-sur-Yon, 106.2 F (41.2 C) in Cholet and 106 F (41.1 C) in Saintes.
The early week's intense heat added to the severe weather threats that France has faced in recent days. On Sunday, several other all-time highs were recorded in the country, including Lavaur and Revel with 103 F (39.6 C) readings.
A third day of record highs were felt on Tuesday, including observations of 105 F (40.4 C) in Dieppe and 104 F (39.9 C) in Calais.
The record temperatures and excessive dryness left parts of southwestern France at the mercy of raging wildfires. A massive blaze continues to tear through the wine-making region of Gironde, a popular tourist destination, and has laid at least 34,000 acres of land to waste since last week, according to the BBC.
"It never stops," firefighter David Brunner told The Guardian about taking on the Gironde fire. "In 30 years of firefighting, I have never seen a fire like this."
More than 35,000 people have been forced to flee their homes and summer vacation spots due to the uncontrollable fires, The Associated Press reported.
About 2,000 firefighters and numerous water-bombing planes continued to battle the blazes Tuesday and Météo-France had placed 15 departments in the western portion of the country on the highest state of alert for extreme temperatures.
"In certain zones in the southwest, it will be an apocalypse of heat," forecaster Francois Gourand of Météo-France told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Tuesday evening, authorities said it appeared they were gaining ground in the fight to control the wildfires. Fabienne Buccio, the prefect, or top state official, for Gironde, told reporters that the fires had made "far less" progress compared with previous days, The New York Times reported.
Authorities also announced that a man had been detained on suspicion of arson in connection with at least one blaze, according to Reuters.
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Kids jump from a bridge to swim in the Canal St. Martin, during a heatwave in Paris on July 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly) |
Even outside of the southwest, the heat has been absolutely brutal across a large part of France. On Monday afternoon, Paris reached 100 F (38 C), the first triple-digit reading since early August 2020. The City of Light typically averages a high temperature of around 75 F (24 C) in the heart of summer. Tuesday upped the heat even further in Paris, hitting 105 F (40.5 C), becoming the second-hottest day in the hub's history.
This scorching heat wave has proven dangerous to the thousands of Europeans living without air conditioning or other ways to cool off. More than 1,000 people have already died in Spain and Portugal from heat-related causes, according to officials. Record highs were broken throughout Spain Sunday, including a 42.3 C (108 F) reading in Pamplona, a 40.6 C (105 F) high in Salamanca, and a temperature of 38.7 C (102 F) in Burgos.
On Tuesday, sizzling heat arrived in Germany. According to the German weather service, Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), a station in Duisburg-Baerl reported a high temperature of 103 F (39.3 C) which marked the highest temperature of 2022 for the country so far.
Just like France, other European countries are also dealing with raging wildfires. Horrifying video released from Zamora, Spain, shows a passenger train being halted while surrounded by wildfires raging right outside the windows. No injuries were reported as a result of the train traveling between Madrid and Ferrol.
Elsewhere in Europe, first-responders in Greece raced to put out wildfires, namely in the Mediterranean island of Crete. One wildfire prompted evacuation of 36 children and 19 staff members in a Penteli, North Athens children's hospital.
Morocco, Croatia and Hungary have also been fighting fires within the past few days as a result of the heat wave.
From mid-to-late week, the worst of the heat will begin to ease across Western Europe, but temperatures will still remain above average for at least the rest of the week, according to AccuWeather meteorologists. It may take residents and infrastructure several days or even weeks to recover from the strain exerted by this historic heat wave.
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