The planet is boiling
This July has seen temperatures in the UK exceeed 30C day after day – a most unusual experience. But we are certainly not alone.
United States
Temperature hits 48.8C in South Dakota, 46C in California. Hundreds of thousands are left without power as air-conditioners overload the electricity grid. At least 10 suspected heat-related deaths are reported.
Canada
Temperature tops 34C in Toronto. Extreme health alert issued; city officials believe there is a 90% chance of heat-related deaths. Municipal swimming pools are kept open late into the night.
France
Temperature tops 38C in Bordeaux and 39C in Paris. France’s main electricity provider has to buy power from abroad as the national grid strains in the heat. Production curtailed at nuclear power plants because of a shortage of cold water used in cooling. At least 40 believed dead, including a 15-month-old baby.
Germany
Temperature reaches 39C in Berlin. The Unterweser nuclear plant reduces output by 30% due to a lack of cold water. Two deaths due to suspected heat-related causes.
Spain
Temperature reaches 40C. Two new victims of the heatwave reported last week, including a Barcelona sunbather and a man working in a greenhouse on the south coast. Six dead from the heatwave so far.
Portugal
The country has registered “tropical” nights with minimum temperatures above 20C for 12 days running in the southern Alentejo region and for 11 nights in the Algarve.
The Netherlands
Temperature tops 37C. A four-day walking event is cancelled in Nijmegen after two participants die in the heat and 30 are hospitalised.
Poland
Temperatures up to 35C. Members of the ruling Conservative party prepare to pray for rain.
Czech Republic
Temperature over 35C in Prague. The famous medieval clock in the centre of the city is running slow because of the heat, officials announce.
Denmark
Temperature hits 33.5C. Police report a spate of thefts, prompted by house owners leaving doors and windows open to cope with the heat. There is an increase in complaints about public sex on beaches.
Austria
Temperature reaches 36C. Barbecues are banned from public areas to prevent forest fires. A German truck driver dies from heat-related causes.
Italy
Temperature reaches 39C in Florence. Italy’s largest river, the Po, shrinks to its lowest level since records began. Emergency workers in Rome hand out water to people standing in queues outside museums and galleries or waiting in the sun to catch their bus. One worker in Sardinia collapses and dies of heat-related causes.
Bosnia
Temperature reaches 41C. A series of fires break out, prompting firefighters to ask the army for helicopter assistance.