France´s heat exceeded 45 degrees Celsius on Friday, the fifth day of an extraordinary heatwave in Europe that has left four deaths so far, while Catalonia continues to fight a fire that has hit thousands of hectares.
For the first time since the beginning of the 19th century, French meteorological observations recorded at 45.1 ° C in Philhaili in the south of the country, raising the state of alertness to maximum or red.
"France joins the club of European countries that have ranked at least 45 degrees Celsius (such as Bulgaria, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Greece and Northern Macedonia)," a French meteorologist, Francois Joubar, wrote on Twitter.
Earlier, the southern city of Carpentras had already smashed the national record of 44.1 degrees in August 2003, the year when temperatures reached a record high of 15,000, apart from other damage.
In southern France, older people were keen to leave before 8 am for shopping. "I go with the store opening, the sun is burning even at this time and I feel the weight of the pollution," said Suzette Alagher, who wore a hat and sunglasses, barely walking.
In the west of the country, the fourth death was reported as a result of this heat wave that struck most European countries and appeared to be exceptional in its strength at this time of the year. The deceased, a 33-year-old construction worker, was seriously injured and died instantly while working on a shadowy surface at 35 ° C, near Rennes.
In Spain, where temperatures exceed 40 degrees Celsius most days, a 17-year-old boy who was harvested in Andalusia died of a "heat stroke" that also caused the death of a 93-year-old man on Thursday night while walking in the center of Valladolid (Northern Spain).
The first death during the heat wave was recorded in Milan, Italy, where 70 people were found dead on Thursday morning due to heat-induced exhaustion.
In the Paris suburb, a six-year-old Syrian boy was seriously injured on Thursday night because of the pressure of the water, which was swarming vigorously when he opened a faucet to extinguish the fire.
Crowding and wetting are common in the streets during the heatwave. Since Monday, several fire-fighting faucets have been opened in the Paris area, according to firefighters.
As a result of high temperatures, 34 of Spain´s 50 provinces are on fire alert, especially in Catalonia, where firefighters are battling a fire that has already swept 6,500 hectares and is still out of control.
Firefighters are trying to control the fire, but are facing difficulties due to temperatures reaching 44 degrees Celsius and "very low humidity," said Catalonia fire chief David Borrell.
Standard temperatures in much of Europe rose to 40 in Piedmont, Italy, and 38.9 on Thursday in the Czech Republic and 38.6 in Germany. Thus, the average temperature recorded in June increased by 4.4 degrees compared with reference period 191-2010.
In Switzerland, the Railways Authority was forced to spray the waterways to prevent the recurrence of deformities that took place Thursday. Another method was applied during the previous heat waves, and painted on white.
President Emmanuel Macaron said the heat waves were expected to be replicated by global warming. "We will have to change the organization of ourselves and the way we work (...) and the way we build our houses," he said, stressing "the need for community adaptation and practices" according to changing weather conditions.
But the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a note that it was "premature" to attribute "this unusual heat wave to global warming."
The heat wave, in turn, "is in line with climate scenarios that are likely to have more and more heat waves," it said.
"Earth is expected to live the warmest five years in the 2015-2019 period, according to the approximate figures," she said.
