A widespread heat wave continues to burn many large areas in Europe on June 27, breaking temperature records, disrupting daily life and public services, causing difficulties for firefighting in the context of increasing risks of wildfires, Xinhua reported.
The situation forced health and meteorological agencies to expand warnings, while emergency rooms, traffic networks and firefighters were under increasing pressure.
In the UK, the heat wave peaked when preliminary temperatures of 37.3°C were recorded in Santon Downham, Suffolk, becoming the hottest June ever recorded. This number surpassed the previous June record of 36.7°C, which was set just one day earlier in Merryfield, Somerset.
In London, authorities warned that sidewalk temperatures in some places reached 57°C. The London Emergency Service said emergency calls 999 have skyrocketed by 50% during the heat wave. The subway network in Sheffield has been temporarily suspended due to extreme temperatures.
Germany also recorded a national temperature record that could be the highest ever. According to Dpa news agency citing preliminary data from the German Meteorological Agency, 41.3°C was measured in Saarbruecken-Burbach in Saarland state in the southwest. The country's previous record was 41.2°C, measured on July 25, 2019.
Ms. Sabine Blaschke, medical director of the emergency department at the University Medical Center of Goettingen, said that the number of heatstroke patients has increased significantly, with symptoms including temporary loss of consciousness, dizziness, heatstroke and dehydration. On the German A2 highway, prolonged heat caused old concrete sections to expand, deform and break, forcing the two road sections to be completely closed.
Italy is also continuing to struggle in the severe heat wave when the Ministry of Health placed 18 cities on "red alert", the highest temperature warning level.
Affected cities include Rome, Milan, Turin, Florence, Bologna, Venice and Verona, while daytime temperatures in some parts of central and northern Italy are forecast to approach 38-40°C.
Italian media reported that emergency departments in some northern regions witnessed a sharp increase in the number of patients dehydrated, exhausted from heat and cardiovascular complications, especially in the elderly. Authorities also warned of a high risk of forest fires, especially in Sardinia and southern Italy.
The Balkans are also experiencing severe heat waves and related hazards. Serbia is facing a severe and prolonged heat wave with maximum temperatures forecast to reach 39°C until early next week. In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), heat warnings have been issued to many large areas with temperatures forecast to reach 38°C.
Hot and dry weather has made firefighting difficult. In the southern city of Mostar, firefighters continued efforts to control a large garbage dump where the fire had flared up for many days, spreading to a nearby tire yard and significantly affecting air quality. Another forest fire broke out again at Blidinje Natural Park in western BiH, burning more than 1,300m2 of pine forest.
Further north, Latvia has issued an orange-level heat warning nationwide for the next few days, with temperatures expected to reach 31-35°C.
