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High temperature works Europe when the temperature rises to June.
Authorities have issued heat alerts across the region, warning of potential health risks, transport networks and public services as the mercury rises.
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European countries are the hottest in the world, with temperatures rising almost twice as fast as the global average. Many of its products, buildings and transport systems are designed to be very cold, which makes long periods of extreme heat a nuisance.
The latest heatwave is the second major heat wave to hit Europe in just two months, raising new concerns about climate change.
“People should be very worried,” Laurie Parsons, a reader in Human Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London, told Al Jazeera. The World Health Organization said: “Currently, heatstroke is the biggest problem in the world and nearly half a million people die every year from heat-related diseases.”
What are the results so far? What is driving the current temperature? So why do scientists expect that such a bad weather will happen twice in the coming years? Here’s what you need to know:
Why do people die during the heat?
France it has been acting as the epicenter, recording the hottest day on record, according to provisional figures from the Meteo-France weather agency. The global average temperature reached 29.8 degrees Celsius (85.6 degrees Fahrenheit), surpassing the record set in 2019, when one city exceeded 44C (111F).
The heat has turned deadly. Forty people have drowned since Thursday, and French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has linked the deaths to rising temperatures as people seek relief from the heat.
Three elderly people have also died from the heat near Bordeaux while two children, aged two and four, were found dead in a hot car in the south of France.
In Spain, a 90-year-old woman is said to have died near Bilbao of heatstroke in her nursing home, and a 68-year-old man in Almeria is also said to have died of heatstroke.
Across Europe, many people have been hospitalized.
Are public services going well?
Officials are concerned about the strain on infrastructure and public services. In the United Kingdom, temperatures are expected to top 38C (100F), prompting the Met Office to issue a rare red heat warning.
Hundreds of schools have closed or moved to shorter timetables as people have been advised to avoid non-essential rail travel due to traffic disruptions and power and water pressures.
Spain has experienced exceptional heat with the AEMET weather service reporting highs of over 45C (113F) in the south of the country. Almost the entire country has been under heat warnings.
Heat warnings were in place across Europe with the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland and Luxembourg all experiencing deep red alerts.
Scientists have warned that Europe is particularly vulnerable because many of its buildings and infrastructure are not designed to withstand long-term warming. About 20 percent of European homes have air conditioning. In many northern countries, old buildings were built to keep them warm instead of being removed.
What is causing global warming?
Meteorologists say the high temperatures are being driven by a superheated system, a large area of high pressure that has been suspended over Western Europe.
This phenomenon is supported by what is known as the omega block, a period named after the Greek letter because of the same pattern it creates in space.
Regularly, the jet stream carries weather patterns from west to east. At the omega block, however, that flow is disrupted, blocking the flow of energy between the two lower systems.
The result is that warm, stagnant air remains trapped in the same area for days or weeks. The UK Met Office said that Britain is currently on the boundary between high-speed systems and cold air in the north-west, which creates a sharp contrast between hot weather in the south and east and cold, wet weather in the north-west.
Why are experts worried?
The researchers say that global warming is one of the world’s greatest environmental threats.
Parsons at Royal Holloway said the results were not always the same.
“People over the age of 65 account for nearly 90 percent of all heat-related deaths while temperatures remain stable due to economic inequality.
“Low-income areas are more vulnerable to heat stress due to less insulated buildings and more outdoor activities. Therefore, heat stress is a prime example of climate change in an international, environmentally vulnerable world.”
Does climate change have a cause?
Scientists say that climate change is making the temperature more severe and dangerous.
Global average temperatures are now about 1.25C (2.25F) above pre-industrial levels, with 2024 reaching 1.55C (2.79F) above those levels, according to Parsons.
This has greatly changed the possibility of overheating.
“Heat waves like we’re seeing now are about 30 times higher than before climate change,” he said. “Extraordinary heat waves like the one we’re experiencing now used to happen once every 300 years, but now they’re happening more often than once every decade.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of increasing risks due to rising temperatures. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that Europe’s heatwave “puts public health at risk”.
“The bottom line is clear: Temperatures across Europe are rising at nearly twice the global average, increasing the likelihood and risk of extreme temperatures in the future,” he said. “We can’t afford to delay. Leaders must prioritize climate-friendly health care and accelerate climate change and reduce the causes of climate change.”
The warm-up coincides with London Climate Action Week, one of the world’s largest climate conferences in the world, attended by thousands of delegates, including heads of state and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Guterres used the event to renew calls for urgent action to reduce oil consumption.
“The climate crisis and the energy crisis may seem like opposites, but they are related to what they cause: fossil fuels,” he said. “They want the same answer: a quick, sustainable transition to clean energy and a transition to change, resilience and climate justice for those facing climate change.”
Has public interest in climate change faded?
While concerns about climate change often rise during bad weather, experts say public interest is low.
“Climate change has now become a very political issue because of the media’s opposition to climate zero goals,” Parsons said. “This is not an accident or a natural phenomenon but has been led by media groups, such as News Corp and GB News among others, who have been pushing the anti-net-zero lines for the past five years.”
He said that this issue has been related to politics in several countries, especially in the United States. Even so, extreme weather events raise public concerns.
“There is a long-term and unchanging trend of extreme weather that is causing people to worry about the weather,” he said. “These heat waves are hitting hard in this category. With that in mind, now is a good time to strengthen climate policy.”
