Full list of European countries under heatwave alerts as mercury soars to 46C
The record-high temperature of 46C was reported in the town of El Granado in southern Spain on Saturday, according to Spain's national weather service, with the mercury also set to reach 40C in Paris.
Dozens of heat warnings are in place across France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and well as the Balkans, according to weather aggregator MeteoAlarm.
'Extreme heat is no longer a rare event – it has become the new normal,' UN secretary general Antonio Guterres warned. 'The planet is getting hotter & more dangerous – no country is immune.'
Here is a full list of European countries currently in the grip of a heatwave and the current advice being given to locals and tourists.
Spain
There were 118 heat alerts in place across Spain as of midday local time on Tuesday, according to MeteoAlarm.
These cover virtually the entire country, with the exception of areas of the south east coast such as Almeria and swathes of the north east such as Oviedo.
The mercury will rise above 40C for the next three days in Seville, where night-time temperatures will remain at around 25C until Thursday morning.
Doctors have expressed alarm at the combination of hot days and uncomfortably warm nights, which can place lethal stress on the human body.
Local authorities have urged anyone in an area affected by a severe high temperature warning to take precautions and check the weather forecast. The warnings also state that damage to properties may occur, while vulnerable people are at particular risk.
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Meanwhile, there are also warnings for storms and heavy rainfall in eastern regions of the country including inland areas of Valencia and Catalonia, where as much as 20mm of rain could fall.
Italy
There are heat alerts covering eight of Italy's regions: Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Lazio, Puglia, Sardinia, Tuscany and Umbria, according to MeteoAlarm.
Temperatures of up to 42C have been forecast in parts of Italy, according to the monitoring website. Two people have already died in the country due to weather.
In Bologna a 47-year-old died after falling ill on a construction site while a 70-year-old man was reported drowned during flash flooding at a tourist resort to the west of Turin.
A warning for thunderstorms is also in place for the central Italian region of Emilia-Romagna and the northern Italian region of Trentino-Alto Adige.
France
There are several heat alerts in place across France as of midday on Tuesday. The French capital, Paris, is forecast to reach a blistering 40 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.
Météo-France has placed multiple departments under its highest red alert, with the Paris region experiencing the most severe impact. A red alert means that the weather is 'very dangerous' and major damage and accidents are likely.
The Education Ministry has confirmed that over 1,300 schools are expected to be partially or fully closed on Tuesday as the country battles a severe heatwave.
The only areas of France that are not covered by a heatwave are the north east tip, such as Brest and Saint-Brieuc.
The extreme heat also raised the risk of field fires as farmers in France, the European Union's biggest grain producer, start harvesting this year's crop.
Some farmers were working through the night to avoid harvesting during peak temperatures in the afternoon. In the Indre region of central France, which has seen a spate of field fires since late June, authorities banned field work between 2pm and 6pm.
Greece
There are 14 weather alerts in place across Greece. Last week, a large wildfire broke out south of Athens on Thursday, forcing evacuations and road closures near the ancient Temple of Poseidon.
Strong winds spread the flames, damaging homes and sending smoke across the sky.
Belgium
Belgium is also experiencing unusually high temperatures, with MeteoAlarm showing that orange heatwave warnings are in place in areas including Bruges and Antwerp.
Temperatures will reach 32C in the capital Brussels on Tuesday, soaring to around 33C in Bruges, according to the Met Office.
Portugal
In Portugal, 18 heat alerts are in place including in the capital Lisbon, Braga and Faro.
A temperature reading in Mora, about 60 miles east of Lisbon, turned up a suspected record-high June temperature of 46.6C on Sunday.
Into this week, temperatures are set to cool slightly between 31C and 34C, according to Portugal's national weather service.
Netherlands
Temperatures will reach around 32C in parts of the Netherlands on Tuesday. There are 28 heat alerts in place across the usually mild country, including in Amsterdam and the Hague.
The country's meteorological institute warned of 'persistent heat' and for people to be aware of the unusual weather.
'[There] are some health risks amongst vulnerable people like the elderly and very young are possible,' it warned.
Germany
In Germany, temperatures are set to reach a sweltering 37C on Wednesday. There are 122 weather warnings in place across the country, including
Germany's main forecaster, Deutscher Wetterdienst, warned that 'severe heat stress' is expected in the coming days. '[There will be] less cooling at night, especially in the densely built-up urban areas of Berlin,' they said.
Austria
By Thursday, temperatures will soar to 34C. There are hundreds of heat alerts in place across the country, according to MeteoAlarm.
Czechia
In Czechia, temperatures will reach 33C on Wednesday. There are six heat warnings in place across the country this week.
Luxembourg
Two heat alerts are in place here. Temperatures could reach 34C by Wednesday.
Switzerland
Temperatures will reach 34C on Wednesday, according to the Met Office. There are a few weather alerts in place.
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Irish Examiner
14 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
River Blackwater disaster: 'I have seen fish infections before but nothing like this'
A small stream flowing behind John Flynn's North Cork home was a haven of peace and tranquillity. But in the past fortnight, the flowing waters have instead become a source of stress and anxiety, given the high numbers of dead fish he has seen in the stream since August 12. For over 50 years, he has enjoyed fishing there. But now he is one of hundreds of anglers who have been affected by the deaths of an estimated 46,000 fish in the waters of the Blackwater and tributaries over a 30km stretch from Roskeen in Lombardstown to the bridge in Killavullen. Trout and salmon The vast majority of the fish killed are brown trout, according to Inland Fisheries Ireland. Salmon are also among the casualties, according to local anglers, including John Flynn. Mr Flynn, who is secretary of Killavullen Angling Club, said: 'I am fishing this river for more than 50 years, since I was a young fella. "I have seen fungal outbreaks in fish but they would normally not affect all the fish, and it would be a slow progress. Inland Fisheries Ireland is investigating the Blackwater fish kill in Cork. Pictured is a dead European eel. "For example, in the springtime, we might see some salmon get a fungal outbreak on them and they would change from saltwater to freshwater but it would only be a small percentage. The last big one I saw like this would have been back in the early 1970s. That was nothing like this — we have deaths now among the most resilient fish to pollution in the river. He added: 'I have seen infections before in fish but nothing like this, and it just happened so fast. "I would know most of the river like the back of my hand and there are other anglers who started fishing the same time as me and they are in a desperate state. Nobody can understand it.' Grimly, he said: 'I am looking out at the river now and it just looks dead. "Last night, I went for a walk and I could not bring myself to look into the stream because there was a tear in my eye. I just felt sick. 'I am retiring this year and my dream after 40-odd years working was that I would be able to go fishing when I'd want. It is devastating for everyone.' 'Hope that Mother Nature will kick in' For John Ruby, chairman of Mallow angling club, there are similar feelings, as he also lives close to the river. He is a trout angler and says that the river Blackwater holds mostly trout, but there are also some salmon. He explained: 'There would be more trout in the river — they are there all year round, but salmon are a migratory fish so you have to have the weather for them to come. Trout fishing is there any time in the season from February to the end of September.' He said trout anglers are hopeful that 'Mother Nature will kick in' and that enough brown trout will remain in the affected stretch of water to ensure that new trout will come through for future seasons. 'Fisheries getting no notification' However, fishery owner and chairman of Killavullen Angling Club, Conor Angland, has fears for the next few years regarding salmon in the river and its tributaries. The River Blackwater at Ballyhooly, Co Cork. File picture: Larry Cummins He says: 'I have a salmon fishery on the Blackwater from Castletownroche to near Ballyhooly — all in, it is six and a half miles of the river. All of the other fisheries downstream from me have been asking me to see what the story is because they have not received any notification from anyone regarding what precautions or procedures they should be taking. He added: 'We have no clue how far-reaching it is. Is it being diluted and going down the river perhaps not at a fatal level downstream.' He says his fishery is closed and is likely to remain so for the remainder of the fishing season. 'I teach as well — I am a fly-casting instructor. I would have up to 12 to 14 people a day fishing. And I would be doing courses as well.' The fungal infection outbreak may have killed tens of thousands of fish in a long stretch of the Munster Blackwater in County Cork. He says he has not had time as yet to work out how much of a loss he will suffer as a result of the catastrophe. He points out that vast numbers of foreigners come into the Blackwater area for fishing, from the UK, France, Germany, and Italy, as well as the US. He said: I have had to contact people to tell them I am closing for the foreseeable future. He continued: 'Judging by the amount of fish that have been killed and the amount of juvenile salmon that were seen [among those], the next three or four years there will be nothing to fish for.' Salmon: 'Another generation may be gone' John Flynn says that salmon 'are on the verge of extinction anyway and we are pressing to get catch and release done and now the salmon parr are dead and it takes four to five years before they move out of the river and go to the sea and then come back. "So you are talking about five years minimum. And if the salmon come in and spawn in October and November, and the river is infected, that is another generation gone.' Mr Ruby said that there is a great passion for fishing in the area but 'it is so depressing at the moment and there is a deadness around the place, especially around the river — it is silent'. He continued: 'We don't know what the future holds for us, with it still ongoing. We have no answers from the scientists or the government bodies. It is the not knowing that it is the hardest part of it and the hoping that it will stop — every day there are more dead fish.' 'This is invisible' Mr Ruby said that normal pollution in Irish rivers is typically either sewerage or slurry, which can be seen and smelt. However, he said: This is invisible, whatever it is. Hopefully the scientists can pick up on it. John Flynn says that the absence of information is leaving a 'huge vacuum for speculation'. While the Marine Institute have taken samples from some fish, it will be a further two weeks at least before a result will come through, to establish the cause of the deaths. Effects on the wider ecosystem However, anglers and wildlife enthusiasts are not just concerned about the deaths of fish — they also have concerns about the effect on other wildlife including herons, kingfishers, and otters, particularly given that a small number of dead birds have been seen in the area in recent days. John Flynn says: 'There are swans that drink and eat in the river, there are otters, kingfishers, herons — it is all going up the food chain.' A cormorant landing in Cork. The seabird does hunt inland but John Ruby was disturbed by the sight of an apparently disoriented bird near his home on Sunday. File picture: Denis Minihane For John Ruby, one of the most concerning elements of the current scare was the presence of a cormorant near his home in Mallow town on Sunday evening. He said that he heard a thump on the ground and saw the bird on the road, before it managed to fly off to a nearby roof and then disappear. Mr Ruby described the bird as being disorientated, explaining that cormorants are never seen near people or in built-up areas. Cormorants are predators which can consume close to 1kg of fish a day and are typically sea birds which sometimes come inland. 'We are hoping that the live fish we are seeing in the river can still make it through it,' Mr Ruby said. 'There are live ones but they have a fungal disease on them as well. A cormorant catching fish near the Marina in Cork. The predatory seabird does occasionally come inland and can consume up to 1kg of fish a day. File picture: Chani Anderson "There are some fish that are gone out of the main stream but we don't know if they have enough oxygen and food for them to survive. A lot of fish that were healthy could possibly die of starvation.' Fish that survived are stressed John Flynn highlights that many of the fish that are alive are stressed: 'There are fish coming up the stream at the back of my place, in desperation, some of them are on their back, trying to swim. "It is horrific to see that.' The anglers are speaking to the Irish Examiner ahead of a meeting between angling representatives and senior officials of Inland Fisheries Ireland on Friday. Inland Fisheries Ireland statement In a statement on Tuesday, the body said that the Environmental Protection Agency, which has been liaising with IFI's lead senior fisheries environmental officer throughout the Blackwater investigation, 'inspected water treatment plants and licenced commercial discharges in the affected area'. The statement added: 'The EPA's preliminary results did not report anything of concern'. The statement continued: 'In addition to high temperatures and low flow conditions at the River Blackwater, underlying water quality issues, over a period of time, may be a contributory factor in the fish kill in Cork.' The acting chief executive officer for Inland Fisheries, Suzanne Campion, will be among the officials meeting with anglers' representatives on Friday. 'Distressing fish kill' Ahead of the meeting, she said: 'IFI's primary function is to protect and manage freshwater fish and their habitats.' She acknowledged that the fish kill is 'very distressing for anglers and others who enjoy the river.' She said it is also a source of distress for staff of the IFI who, she said, had devoted many years to caring for fish in the catchment area. She added: 'We await a report on the event from the Marine Institute to try establish a cause of the fish mortalities. Our dedicated staff will continue to actively monitor the river to assess the scale of the incident.' IFI estimates of fish kill Inland Fisheries Ireland estimate that between 8,000 and 10,000 fish have died in the River Blackwater within the past 10 days — less than a quarter of the 46,000-fish figure which local angling groups estimate have died in the incident since August 12. She said: 'Estimating the number of mortalities in a fish kill is always difficult as many dead fish will be taken by predators, caught under banks out of sight, will sink to the bottom of pools or be washed downstream. It is also possible that the same fish may be reported by different observers.' She added: 'The Marine Institute advice provided to IFI is that there is no precedent for dead fish to be removed from the river. Deceased fish should be left where they are found.' Salmon Watch Ireland For conservation group Salmon Watch Ireland, the developments at the Blackwater are of grave concern, and without clear information as yet on the cause of the fish deaths, there is worry about whether pollution could have caused the kill. Although there has been no evidence of pollution to date in the investigation, spokesman John Murphy said: 'This tragic event highlights the ongoing pressures on the catchment, which continues to suffer from excessive nutrient inputs linked to agricultural intensification and inadequate wastewater treatment infrastructure. "In addition, several licensed discharge points associated with dairy processing and other industries contribute further stress to the river system." 'Weather may have played a part' Mr Murphy continued: "While such licences may be deemed acceptable under normal conditions, the reality of increasingly frequent low rainfall and higher water temperatures significantly reduces the river's capacity to assimilate these discharges.' The Salmon Watch Ireland spokesman said current weather conditions have already resulted in extensive algae growth on the riverbed. He said: 'The subsequent die-off of this algae can rapidly deplete dissolved oxygen, causing major mortality among fish and the invertebrate species that sustain the ecosystem. "Elevated water temperatures compound this oxygen loss. Fish weakened under such stressful conditions are also far more vulnerable to secondary impacts such as fungal infections, further accelerating mortality and undermining the long-term resilience of populations.' Fish kills elsewhere in Ireland While the scale of the Blackwater fish kill is large, there have been others in different parts of the country this year. They include more than 1,000 fish in the Ballinagh River in Cavan, and 1,500 brown trout and European eels after a pollution incident, on Ballybrack stream, a small tributary of the Douglas River flowing near Douglas village, Cork city. Earlier this year, there have been a number of convictions for pollution of rivers, including Tirlán and Uisce Éireann, as well as a wind farm company, a construction firm, a cheesemaker, and a gravel supply company. 'Time for new legislation' In Tipperary, where anglers are concerned about pollution in rivers, chairman of Thurles angling club, JP Butler, said there have been no recent fish kills but he is a member of Mallow angling club too. He feels that it is time to tackle legislation governing water pollution given that the legislation has not been amended for decades. He says that penalties are too small, especially in situations where large companies are responsible. For example, last November, Uisce Éireann was fined of €3,500 for a breach of Section 171(1) of the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act 1959, and payment of €3,267 in costs, following a fish kill of at least 5,000 fish in the River Allow from the Freemount water treatment plant in June 2024. Upsetting for anglers For now, there are no answers for anglers at the Blackwater stretch which have been affected by the current fish kill. John Ruby says that knowing there are so many dead fish in the river is upsetting, particularly as anglers use fishing as a get-away-from-it-all exercise. He explained: 'You can have all the stress in the world and you could go to the river for an hour or two and just forget about everything. It is a great stress reliever. You are engrossed in nature.'
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Search continues for 150 people missing in Pakistan after devastating floods
Rescuers were continuing to search for more than 150 people still missing in north-western Pakistan after days of torrential rain caused flash floods that have killed more than 270 people. A senior politician has blamed local residents for the high death toll, saying people should have built their homes elsewhere. The death toll in the mountainous district of Buner in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province reached 277 on Monday after rescuers recovered three more bodies, emergency services spokesman Mohammad Suhail said. A man walks past a flooded park after heavy rainfall in Peshawar, Pakistan (Muhammad Sajjad/AP) The search operations have been extended to remote areas to find residents swept away by floods that hit the province on Friday, according to Mr Suhail. The army has deployed engineers and heavy machinery to clear the rubble. Villagers have accused officials of not telling them to evacuate ahead of flooding and landslides. There was no warning broadcast from mosque loudspeakers, a traditional method for alerting emergencies in remote areas. However, the government insists that while an early warning system was in place, the sudden downpour was so intense that the deluge struck before residents could be informed. Provincial chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur said on Sunday that many of the deaths could have been avoided had residents not built homes along waterways and riverbanks. He added that the government would encourage displaced families to relocate to safer areas, where they would be assisted in rebuilding their homes. Pakistan has seen higher-than-normal monsoon rains since June 26, killing at least 645 people across the country, with 400 deaths in the north west. A police officer directs vehicles and motorcyclists driving through a flooded road after heavy rainfall in Peshawar, Pakistan (Muhammad Sajjad/AP) The National Disaster Management Authority issued an alert for further flooding after new rains began on Sunday in many parts of the country. Torrential rains triggered a flash flood that struck the Darori village, in the north-western Swabi district, on Monday, killing 15 people, government official Awais Babar said. He said rescuers evacuated nearly 100 people, mostly women and children, who had taken refuge on the roofs of their homes. Disaster management officials said the floods inundated streets in other districts in the north west and in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad chaired a high-level meeting on Monday to review relief efforts in flood-hit areas of north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as northern Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. At the meeting, officials estimated flood-related damages to public and private property at more than 126 million rupees (£1.6 million), according to a government statement. The UN humanitarian agency said it has mobilised groups in hard-hit areas, where damaged roads and communication lines have cut off communities. Relief agencies are providing food, water and other aid while preparing for longer-term recovery efforts. Flooding has also hit India-administered Kashmir, where at least 67 people were killed and dozens remain missing after flash floods swept through the region during an annual Hindu pilgrimage. UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres expressed deep sorrow on Sunday over the loss of life in Pakistan and India, while Pope Leo XIV offered condolences after praying the Angelus in Castel Gandolfo. Pakistan remains highly vulnerable to climate-related disasters. In 2022, catastrophic floods linked to climate change killed nearly 1,700 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless.
Irish Independent
5 days ago
- Irish Independent
Spain, Portugal, and Greece battle wildfires as heatwave is expected to last for days
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