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Climate change fuels surge in global heat stress – study
The number of people exposed to dangerous heat stress worldwide has risen sharply over the last half century propelled by climate change, according to a study released as Europe sweltered through a punishing heatwave.
Heat stress – the name given to the hazardous build-up of body heat caused by soaring temperatures, humidity and other factors – is one of the most common ways that weather kills people.
The new study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change on Monday, tracked how heat stress levels surged between the 1970s and 2024.
“On every continent, strong to extreme heat stress is now more frequent,” said lead study author Rebecca Emerton, of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, quoted by Agence France-Presse.
In the 1970s, for example, 16% of the world’s population experienced at least one day of extreme heat stress – when the “feels-like” temperature was at least 46C.
Fifty years later, the rate has risen to 22%.
Emerton said:
That might not sound like so much. But that’s an extra approximately one billion people that are seeing at least some extreme heat stress now that wouldn’t have done in the 1970s.
Scores of schools across England and Wales announced they would close or finish early this week to protect pupils amid the extreme heat, while transport bosses have warned people against all but essential travel.
The Buckingham School in Buckinghamshire, for example, said it would be closed on Wednesday and Thursday, and asked students to take part in online learning.
St John’s Marlborough in Wiltshire said it would close early on Tuesday and be shut all day on Wednesday and Thursday before reopening on Friday, PA Media is reporting.
The National Association of Head Teachers said it had written to all its members with guidance on dealing with the heat this week, including the impact on pupils and staff, legal positions and when to consider closure.
Advice has also been issued for transport users, with Network Rail warning passengers should “only travel if absolutely essential on Wednesday and Thursday”, saying that “extreme heat can have a significant impact on the railway”.
The heatwave affecting large parts of Europe is known as an Omega block because it takes the shape of the Greek letter, with a bulge of hot air in the middle and cooler air either side, an expert says.
“It’s drawing warm air up from North Africa, from the Sahara, and that’s why we have this really intense heat,” said Clair Barnes, a climate scientist at Imperial College in London, quoted by Reuters.
It’s very slow moving and it means there’s kind of no wind, no breeze for respite.
Heatwaves and storms were being intensified by climate change, pushing temperatures higher and causing more rainfall, she said.
Health warnings issued to English regions amid heat’s ‘risk to life’
The UK Health Security Agency has issued a red health warning for six regions of England from 1am on Wednesday until 11pm on Thursday.
This indicates “a risk to life for even the healthy population” as well as impacts beyond health and social care, with potential effects on transport systems, food, water, energy supplies and businesses.
The six regions are the West Midlands, East Midlands, South East, South West, London and east of England.
It is the second red heat health warning to be issued, after the first in July 2022 when temperatures soared above 40C in the UK for the first time, PA Media reports.
A separate amber health alert has also been put in place for the North West, North East, and Yorkshire and the Humber for the same period, the health security agency said, meaning the impact was expected to be felt across the whole of the health service in these areas.
Dr Agostinho Sousa, the agency’s head of extreme events and health protection, said:
It is vitally important that people understand the risk posed by high temperatures like these, and take steps to keep themselves and their friends, families and neighbours safe.
UK red alert warns of ‘severe’ impacts from heat
With temperatures forecast to reach 38-40C in parts of England and Wales, Britain’s national weather forecaster issued a rare red weather warning covering an area stretching from London to Swansea and Somerset to Birmingham from 9am on Wednesday to 9pm on Thursday.
These were reserved for the most severe events, the Met Office said, meaning this heatwave was expected to bring “severe and significant impacts” including widespread health risks for many – not just those who were normally more vulnerable to the heat – and even danger to life.
The alert also warned that “substantial changes” in working practices and daily routines would be required, and indicated a high risk of failure of heat-sensitive systems and equipment, bringing the loss of power and other essential services, such as water, electricity, gas or mobile phone services, PA Media reports.
An amber weather warning is also in place for a larger area of England and Wales between Monday and Thursday.
A yellow warning for thunderstorms is in place until 9pm on Monday, covering an area stretching between Bristol and Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.
Opening summary: UK heat set to break records; half of France under red alert after deaths
Welcome to today’s coverage of the deadly heatwave in Europe.
Rare red warnings have been issued in the UK over extreme temperatures that are set to hit record highs for June this week as a fierce heatwave grips Europe.
Forecasters say the heatwave could see temperatures hit 38C to 40C in some parts of England and Wales, smashing the June record set in 1976 by several degrees as human-driven climate change intensifies the impact of a “heat-dome” settling over western Europe.
In France a heatwave red alert has been issued to more than half of the country’s departments, affecting about 39 million people, and at least 18 have died – including two children left in a hot car – since the weekend.
French prime minister Sebastien Lecornu was scheduled to hold a crisis meeting on Tuesday, an aide said. More than 1,350 schools have been shut due to the heat.
The UK’s hot conditions – which had been very rare there until now – would be accompanied by high humidity and very warm nights, which would make it hard for people to recover overnight, forecasters said.
Italy on Monday issued heatwave red alerts for 12 cities. In France a nuclear plant in the south-west near Toulouse switched off a reactor because cooling water drawn from a nearby river had got too warm, a spokesperson said.
In other developments:
In south-east France, first responders were unable to resuscitate two children, aged two and four, who were found unconscious by their mother in the family car outside their home on Monday, a prosecutor in Carpentras said.
The deaths followed those of three elderly people, aged between 80 and 95, who died near Bordeaux over the weekend as a result of health problems caused by the extreme temperatures, an official said. Thirteen more drowned in swimming accidents.
In San Sebastian, in Spain’s traditionally cooler north, the temperature was set to reach 40C, more than double the city’s historic average for 22 June, according to the Reuters Climate Monitor.
Belgium’s heatwave is forecast to last a week with temperatures “the hottest ever recorded”, warned the IRM meteorological institute’s head of forecasting.
Paris was due to register its highest temperature for June, reaching 38.4C, according to preliminary numbers from the Meteo-France.
Germany saw a spike in fatal swimming accidents, with authorities reporting five deaths over the weekend. Police said on Monday that several heat-stricken passengers were treated by emergency services at Frankfurt airport the previous day after their plane was held for more than an hour on the apron before take-off.
In Spain, temperatures were 5-10C above normal for this time of year, and more than 10C in some northern areas, the Aemet weather agency said.
With news agencies
