A heatwave affecting much of Europe is expected to intensify further with countries \u2013 including France, Spain and Switzerland \u2013 expecting temperatures above 40C (104F) later on Thursday.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic recorded their highest-ever temperatures for June.<\/p>\n
Meteorologists say hot air drawn in from northern Africa is responsible.<\/p>\n
The heat is expected to rise further in many countries over the next three days, meteorologists warn.<\/p>\n
In Spain, 11 provinces in the east and centre of the country are set to experience temperatures above 40C.<\/p>\n
In parts of the north-east, they may reach 45C on Friday. Spanish officials have also warned of a \u201csignificant risk\u201d of forest fires in some areas.<\/p>\n
In Italy, health officials have issued the highest level of warning for several cities, including Rome.<\/p>\n
The whole of France \u2013 where a heatwave in 2003 was blamed for 15,000 extra deaths -is now on orange alert, the second-highest warning level, and many cities have taken measures to deal with the effects of the heat.<\/p>\n
In Paris fountains and sprinklers connected to hydrants have been set up. Some schools have delayed important exams and even closed to pupils.<\/p>\n
In Toulouse, where temperatures are expected to reach 41C on Thursday, charities have been handing out water to homeless people.<\/p>\n
The heat is also affecting France\u2019s 72,000-strong prison population. Fran\u00e7ois Bes, a prison monitor, told BFMTV that many detainees describe their cells as \u201covens\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s impossible to create a draught because by definition prisoners can\u2019t open the doors,\u201d he is quoted as saying. One major prison near Paris, Fresnes, has decided to hose down the yard to cool it, BFMTV reports.<\/p>\n
How hot was Wednesday?<\/p>\n
Temperatures have been climbing in recent days. On Wednesday, Coschen in Brandenburg peaked at 38.6C \u2013 a new German record for June.<\/p>\n
Radzyn in Poland and Doksany in the Czech Republic also recorded new national highs, with temperatures hitting 38.2C and 38.9C respectively.<\/p>\n
Even in the high-altitude Alps, temperatures topped 30C in places. Parts of Austria recorded their local all-time highest temperatures on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The Swiss cities of Geneva, Bern, and Zurich are all predicted to reach record temperatures of 39C or 40C.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday a swimming pool in the French city of Grenoble was shut down despite the heatwave, after a row over the use of a full-body Islamic burkini swimsuit, the mayor said.<\/p>\n
While the UK will avoid the worst heat, parts of the country \u2013 including London \u2013 are expected to see temperatures top 30C on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Is climate change to blame?<\/p>\n
Linking a single event to global warming is complicated.<\/p>\n
While extreme weather events like heatwaves occur naturally, experts say these will happen more often because of climate change.<\/p>\n
Records going back to the late 19th Century show that the average temperature of the Earth\u2019s surface has increased by about one degree since industrialisation.<\/p>\n
A climatology institute in Potsdam, Germany, says Europe\u2019s five hottest summers since 1500 have all been in the 21st Century.<\/p>\n
Scientists are concerned that rapid warming linked to human use of fossil fuel has serious implications for the stability of the planet\u2019s climate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A heatwave affecting much of Europe is expected to intensify further with countries \u2013 including France, Spain and Switzerland \u2013 expecting temperatures above 40C (104F) later on Thursday. On Wednesday Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic recorded their highest-ever temperatures for June. Meteorologists say hot air drawn in from northern Africa is responsible. The heat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":10607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[224,343,227],"class_list":{"0":"post-10606","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-community","9":"tag-council","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-mdc-councilers"},"yoast_head":"\n