Nordic countries hit by ‘truly unprecedented heatwave'
Scientists have said the hot temperatures, above 30C, were recorded in the Norwegian part of the Arctic Circle for 12 days, and three weeks in Finland have been the longest streak since 1961.
Mika Rantanen, a climate scientist at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, said was a, 'Truly unprecedented heatwave still in full swing with maximum today about 32-33C.'
'Even the Arctic regions … have seen three weeks above 25C, and may rival tomorrow their August heat records,' he added.
The Norwegian Meteorological Institute said temperatures above 30C were recorded on 12 days in July by at least one station in its three northernmost counties.
The institute said it expected temperatures of 30C might be reached again over the weekend.
'We have some hot days ahead of us in northern Norway,' it told The Guardian.
Meteorologists in Sweden said you'd have to go back more than a century to find longer periods of heatwaves in certain areas after several stations in the North of the country noting long-term heatwaves - one in Haparanda measuring 25C or more lasted 14 days in a row.
Northern Europe was faced with sweltering heat in mid-July. Last month was the UK 's fifth warmest July on record, according to provisional figures from the Met Office. The mean average temperature across the month was 16.8C, ranking it behind 2006 (17.8C), 2018 (17.2C), 1983 (17.1C) and 2013 (17.0C).
Researchers have found that countries such as the UK, Norway and Switzerland will face the greatest relative rise in uncomfortably hot days as the planet heats up, and have warned that their infrastructure is not well-suited to cope.
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Sky News
9 hours ago
- Sky News
Tropical Storm Dexter to bring potential heatwave next week
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The Independent
12 hours ago
- The Independent
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Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Europe burns once more as deadly wildfires sweep France and Spain, forcing tourists to evacuate and killing one woman in her home
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Some 17 aircraft have been roped in to tackle the inferno, which took hold in Cadiz in Andalusia on Tuesday afternoon. The current firefighting operation involves five helicopters, two water-carrying planes and a coordination plane, five forest fire ground crews and more. Tarifa Mayor Antonio Santos has described the situation as unprecedented. 'This is the fastest-spreading fire I've ever seen,' he said on national channel La Sexta. Tarifa is often branded a 'surfer's paradise' due to its extremely wide beaches and tall waves. Hundreds of the people evacuated from hotels and homes by the fire were said to have spent the night in a hostel in Algeciras, while droves found shelter in a La Marina sports centre in Tarifa as 5,000 fled the area in cars. Fire stations from elsewhere in the province including Chiclana, Benalup and Los Barrios sent troops to assist the effort against the blaze in Tarifa, as attempts are being concentrated on controlling the fire on the north and east flanks. It comes just days after blazes erupted in Portugal, Greece, and Spain, while tornadoes struck tourist hotspots in parts of Spain and Switzerland. Thousands of firefighters battled a dozen wildfires raging in northern Portugal and central Spain into Wednesday, in the largest wave of blazes in the Iberian Peninsula so far this year following weeks of summer heat. The largest wildfire burned in the wooded, mountainous Arouca area - some 300 km (185 miles) north of Lisbon - since Monday, leading to the closure of the scenic trails of Passadicos do Paiva, a popular tourist attraction. Some 800 firefighters and seven waterbombing aircraft tackled the blaze. 'There was a huge effort during the night, so now we have a somewhat calmer situation,' Civil Protection Commander Helder Silva told reporters, cautioning that shifting strong winds and a difficult terrain meant their work was far from over. 'It's a very large wildfire in areas with difficult access,' he said. Further north, a blaze raged from Saturday in the Peneda-Geres national park near the Spanish border, enveloping nearby villages in thick smoke that led to orders for residents to stay at home. Portuguese firefighters managed to control two large fires that started on Monday in the central areas of Penamacor and Nisa. Authorities said the Penamacor blaze had destroyed 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) of forest. British tourists were put on alert as Greece wildfires spread amid a 44C heatwave in late July, causing homes to go up in flames in the coastal towns of Palaia Fokaia and Thymari 40 km (25 miles) southeast of Athens. Some 145 firefighters, 44 fire engines, ten firefighting planes and seven helicopters were deployed on site as residents of the town of Kryoneri, 12.5miles northeast of Athens, received three SMS warnings to evacuate on July 26.
