June Heatwave Hits 41.3°C; 55 Drown While Seeking Relief

An unseasonably early heatwave is battering Europe day after day.

The heatwave is expanding from Western Europe into Central Europe.

On June 26 (local time), the temperature in Saarbrücken, Germany, near the French border, soared to 41.3°C (106°F), breaking the all-time record.

It is the first time in German meteorological history that temperatures have exceeded 40°C (104°F) in June.

On the same day, 147 weather stations simultaneously broke their records for the highest temperature in June.

Switzerland also set new records for June for the second consecutive day, with Basel reaching 38.8°C (102°F) and the capital, Bern, surpassing 36°C (97°F).

The heatwave continues in Western Europe as well, with Belgium and the United Kingdom breaking their all-time June temperature records for three consecutive days.

European meteorological authorities are calling this an "Omega heat dome."

They explain that the shape, where a high-pressure system traps hot air rising from the Sahara Desert while being blocked by low-pressure systems on both sides, resembles the Greek letter Omega.

Human casualties have also followed.

In France, 55 people have drowned after jumping into rivers and lakes to escape the heat, and there have been successive cases of infants dying inside hot cars.

In Spain, the death toll related to the heatwave has reached 327 since June 21.

[John Kennedy / Head of Climate Information, World Meteorological Organization: In a situation where the heatwave persists, the body cannot recover from the heat of the day, and the stress that continues over several days leads to excessive deaths. These problems can be further exacerbated in urban areas where temperatures are higher at night.]

The damage from the heatwave is not limited to people.

In Germany, highway surfaces have cracked due to the heat, and marathons and LGBTQ pride festivals scheduled for the weekend have been canceled one after another.

In Switzerland, the rise in the water temperature of the Aare River led to the temporary suspension of a reactor at the Beznau Nuclear Power Plant.

In Belgium, two Eurostar trains were halted due to heat-related technical defects, and the reenactment of the Battle of Waterloo was called off for safety reasons.

The heatwave is also spreading to Eastern Europe.

The highest level of heat alerts are set to be issued for western Poland and Hungary, and a red alert is expected for the Adriatic coast of Croatia.

Experts do not view this heatwave as a temporary anomaly.

According to a report published this year by the medical journal The Lancet, approximately 62,000 people died from heatwaves in Europe last year, and heat-related mortality rates increased in 820 out of 823 regions surveyed since 2015.

WHO Director-General Tedros warned, "The rate of temperature rise in Europe is twice the global average," adding that "we no longer have the luxury of delay."

Reported by Sim Yeong-gu | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Lee Jung-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.