Tourists wilted in Paris and Rome, Germans were forced to slow down on potentially melting autobahns and French schools postponed exams as Europe yesterday felt the brunt of a scorching heatwave expected to last all week and break records.
In Germany, where forecasters have warned a June record of 38.5C could be smashed, temporary 100 km/h speed limits have been imposed on some usually unregulated stretches of autobahns, for fear the road surface may break up in the heat and become unsafe. A forest fire raged north of the city of Cottbus, in Brandenburg state, in an area already hit in 2018. The blaze was deemed particularly dangerous due to unexploded ammunition left in the area, which is home to a military training facility.
Temperatures are expected to be particularly unbearable in the northeast of Spain, with a stifling 113F expected Friday in the city of Girona, and 44C in Zaragoza at the weekend. Five northern provinces were placed on an “orange alert” for a heatwave today, with another five to be added by the weekend.
Meteo France has placed two thirds of France on “orange alert” — one off the top-scale red. Scarred by a heatwave in August 2003 blamed for 15,000 deaths, many of them elderly people, authorities are taking no chances with Emmanuel Macron, the French president, promising the “whole government” was focused on the crisis.