Heatwave grips southern Europe

The Guardian

30-06-2025

Update:
Date: 2025-06-30T09:05:11.000Z
Title: Eoin
Content: Health and environmental alerts issued with high temperatures expected in France, Italy, Portugal and Spain
Jakub Krupa
Mon 30 Jun 2025 05.05 EDT
First published on Mon 30 Jun 2025 03.42 EDT
5.05am EDT
05:05
Jakub Krupa
writes in to say:
Thanks for covering the heatwave. Spare a thought for those of us walking the Portuguese Camino de Santiag[o] - it was 42 ('feels like 44') in Santarem last night.
The temperature is expected to hit a nice and breezy 41C today in Santarem in early afternoon today. Stay safe, !
If you are in the countries most affected by the heatwave, email me about your experiences – and how you're dealing with it – at [e-mail].
4.57am EDT
04:57
Sam Jones
in Madrid
Spain remains on high heat alert – especially after a provisional June temperature record of 46C (114.8F) was set on Saturday afternoon in El Granado in the Andalucían province of Huelva. The highest temperature previously recorded for June was the 45.2C logged in Seville in 1965.
The heatwave, which is forecast to last until Thursday, could see temperatures in parts of the country reach 42C on Monday.
Spain's state meteorological office, Aemet, and its health ministry have warned people to take extra care in the heat.
'We are expecting abnormally high and persistent temperatures, during both day and night, that could pose a risk to vulnerable or exposed people,' Aemet said in a statement on Saturday.
The health ministry, meanwhile, has urged people to monitor weather alerts, to stay hydrated and out of the sun, and to check on those who may be at risk.
'Remember that while the heat affects us all, it affects different people in different ways,' it said.
'Take special care if you have a risk factor – these categories include: people aged over 65 and under four; pregnant women; people with chronic illnesses, and those in situations of loneliness or socioeconomic vulnerability.'
Spain recorded its highest ever temperature in August 2021, when the mercury in the Andalucían town of Montoro, near Córdoba, reached 47.4C.
A 2022 Aemet study found that the arrival of 30C temperatures across Spain and the Balearic islands had come an average of 20 to 40 days earlier over the past 71 years. 'The summer is eating up the spring,' Aemet's spokesperson Rubén del Campo told El País at the time.
'What's happening fits perfectly with a situation where you have a warmer planet,' he said, adding that the rise in temperatures was a 'direct and palpable [consequence] of climate change … The climate in Spain isn't the one we used to know. It's got more extreme.'
4.34am EDT
04:34
Ajit Niranjan
Heatwaves have grown hotter and stronger as the planet has warmed, making what doctors call a 'silent killer' even more dangerous.
How worried should we be about heat – and how can we stay safe as the climate changes?
Hot weather kills an estimated half a million people each year. The average annual death toll is greater than that from wars or terrorism, but smaller than that from cars or air pollution.
High heat stresses the human body. When days are too hot to function and nights are not cool enough to recover, the heart and kidneys go into overdrive working to keep the body cool.
There are also secondary health effects from high heat. Heatwaves lead to more accidents, dirtier air, bigger wildfires and more frequent blackouts, all of which can increase the burden on health systems.
People who are forced to be outdoors in scorching weather – builders, farmers, rough sleepers – are most likely to suffer from heat exhaustion and the heatstroke that can follow.
But older people, and particularly those with underlying illnesses, make up the bulk of heat-related deaths. Women are more likely to die from heat-related causes than men. Poorer people – who are less likely to have air conditioning, well-insulated homes, or access to green spaces – are also at greater risk.
The simplest advice is to stay out of the heat: avoid going outside during the hottest parts of the day, and stay in the shade if you have to. To keep your home cool, close windows during the day and open them after dark, when outdoor temperatures fall below inside temperatures. Cover windows with blinds or curtains to block out direct sunlight.
Doctors also recommend drinking water frequently, wearing loose clothing and checking on vulnerable people in your community.
4.05am EDT
04:05
3.42am EDT
03:42
Jakub Krupa
Large parts of Europe continue to be gripped by a heatwave today, with temperatures in mid to high 30s and low 40s Celsius and a range of health and environmental alerts issued across the continent, particularly its southern part.
France, Italy, Portugal and Spain, in particular, have seen extreme weathers over the weekend and they are likely to continue today.
Just take a quick look at the weather forecast: Rome, Madrid and Bologna (36C), Athens and Naples (35C), Lisbon (34C), Zagreb (33C), Paris (32C), London (31C).
There are pockets where the temperatures are even going to hit low 40s, such as in the Extremadura region of Spain.
In Italy, 27 cities were on high alert for extreme health on Sunday. In France, 84 of the nation's 96 mainland departments are on the second-highest 'orange' heat alert, AFP reported.
'This is unprecedented,' Agner Pannier-Runacher, France's ecology transition minister said.
I will bring you all the latest updates from across Europe here.
It's Monday, 30 June 2025, it's Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
Updated
at 3.46am EDT