Foretaste
Heatwaves will occur earlier and more often in the future, the UN’s weather and climate agency said on Friday, pointing to the pre-summer heat waves already scorching parts of Europe.
“What we are witnessing today is, unfortunately, a foretaste of the future,’’ said Clare Nullis.
Nullis is the spokeswoman for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
The extremely high temperatures that spread from North Africa across southern Europe and were expected to hit Switzerland and Germany this weekend are more typical for July or August, the WMO said.
In some parts of Spain and France, temperatures have climbed more than 10 degrees Celsius above the average for this time of year, Nullis said.
Spain, Portugal, Hungary and Serbia were affected by drought, while outside Europe, heat warnings had been issued for almost a third of the population in the U.S. earlier this week.
“As a result of climate change, heat waves are starting earlier, they are becoming more frequent and more severe because of concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which are at a record level,’’ Nullis said.
The state forecaster Meteo France said on Sunday that an early heat wave is expected to hit France during the week, with temperatures reaching up to 38 Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) in the south.
It said the heat wave will affect the southern part of the country first, although how far it will spread to the north is uncertain.
Temperatures could reach 35 to 38 degrees Celsius from the middle of the week until the weekend, and are not expected to drop below 20 degrees, the meteorological service predicted.
Meteo France said this year’s heat wave is set to arrive unusually early, with temperatures predicted seen normally at the height of summer.
This is due to a low-pressure system located between the Azores islands and Madeira in the Atlantic, which favors the uprising of warm air over Western Europe.
The state forecaster said it expected the peak of the heat wave in France to take place between Thursday and Saturday.
Neighbouring Spain is currently experiencing the hottest pre summer heat wave for at least 20 years.
Temperatures reached 40C (104 Fahrenheit) in the Guadalquivir valley in Seville and the nearby city of Cordoba on Saturday, the national meteorological office AEMET said.
