Europe heatwave: over 90 mn set for temperatures above 35°C

PARIS: Areas of Europe home to at least 92 million people — particularly in France, Italy, and Spain — are set for temperatures over 35°C on Wednesday in the continent's latest heatwave, according to calculations. Europe is the planet's fastest-warming continent and in some places is ill-equipped to deal with hot weather. Repeated heatwaves have fuelled a historically hot summer of drought and wildfires, and contributed to the deaths of thousands of people so far. Scientists blame growing heatwaves on human-caused climate change.
Temperatures are also forecast to surpass 30°C for more than half of Europe's population, excluding Türkiye, amounting to around 300 million people, according to an analysis based on German weather service forecasts and 2025 population projections from the Joint Research Centre. The most intense heat is expected in Western and Southern Europe. Temperatures are set to climb above 35°C in regions of France home to 30 million people, though mountainous areas and the northeast of the country are expected to be spared.
Similar heat levels are forecast for 29 million people in Italy and for 21 million in Spain. The heatwave extends toward the Balkans, notably Greece and the Adriatic coast — including Albania and Croatia. Further north, temperatures in the United Kingdom are expected to rise above 30°C for 43 million people.
The usually-temperate country is on track to record its hottest summer ever, the official Met Office agency said on Tuesday. A method is used similar to that of the Austrian NGO Klimadashboard to calculate the figures, cross-referencing population density with the weather forecast model from the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD) — Germany's national meteorological service — published at 03:00 GMT.
Residents are counted if the model forecasts temperatures above 30°C or 35°C at their location at any point during the day. As the model has a resolution of approximately 6.5 km it does not fully capture urban heat-island effects, when cities are significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas, David Jablonski of NGO Klimadashboard said. Consequently, the analysis 'likely underestimates the number of people affected in densely populated urban areas', the organisation notes on its 'European Heat Tracker' website.
France on Wednesday recorded a more than 20 per cent shortfall in nuclear power production capacity, a record deficit caused by environmentally related outages linked to drought, extreme heat and a jellyfish invasion. France uses nuclear power to generate around 70 per cent of its electricity. The country has seen nuclear power production disrupted by multiple heatwaves and droughts this year.
Between 9:45 am and 10:00 am, EDF's nuclear fleet recorded a new peak in outages due to 'environmental constraints' or 'external environmental causes,' both in terms of the number of reactors shut down or operating at reduced output and in terms of lost generating capacity. In total, 13 of the 57 reactors in EDF's nuclear fleet were affected. Eight reactors were completely shut down while five were operating at reduced power.
Much of the lost nuclear generating capacity was due to full or partial shutdowns at five of the six reactors at the Gravelines nuclear power plant after a swarm of jellyfish clogged pumps used to cool the units. Experts say overfishing, plastic pollution and warming seas due to climate change have created conditions allowing jellyfish to thrive and reproduce. Outside the Gravelines plant, the largest in Western Europe, the shutdowns or production reductions affecting other reactors are linked to extreme heat and droughts, depriving the plants of the water they need for cooling. — AFP