Burning Planet

 

The Indian sub-continent is enduring a scorching heatwave that is breaking all records.

Europe also is suffering the heat. 

Temperatures of “extraordinary intensity” in parts of southern Spain are forecast to exceed 42C on Saturday. 

The state meteorological agency, Aemet, warned that Spain was facing “one of the hottest Mays in this country in recent years”.

Aemet said a mass of hot, dry air is blowing in from Africa, carrying with it dust from the Sahara and “exceptionally high” daily temperatures that are between 10C and 15C above the seasonal average.

Spring heat records have also been broken in France as the country enters its 38th consecutive day of above-normal temperatures, with parts of the south already exceeding 33C and some models predicting temperatures will rise locally to 37C or even 39C by the end of the week, around 17C hotter than the seasonal average.

In Paris, the overnight temperature from Wednesday to Thursday did not fall lower than 20C, the first time that has happened so early in the year in the century and a half since records in the capital began. At 3am, the mercury was still close to 22C.

Météo France said such episodes of extreme heat are likely to become longer and more severe, start earlier and recur more frequently as global heating advances 

Spain braces for heatwave of ‘extraordinary intensity’ | Spain | The Guardian