Europe is experiencing its worst heat wave ever as the mercury soars above 40 degrees Celsius – a new record – triggering a series of crises caused by wildfires buckling railway lines, warping roads, and leaving scorched farms in their wake.
In many places, from Spain and Portugal to the UK and France, intense heat has threatened the livelihoods of people, with schools erecting makeshift wading pools to keep children cool.
As London baked in temperatures of up to 40.3 Celsius, the country’s network operator reported railway readings of 62 degrees in Suffolk to the northeast, threatening to “expand, bend and break” supply chain infrastructure not designed for extreme heat.
Bloomberg reported that the “train issues spilled over to the struggling aviation sector, with services to London’s Luton and Gatwick airports cancelled.
“Flights were operating normally at Luton after being suspended for repairs when the heat lifted a section of the runway.”
In the Gironde region of France, more than 34 000 people had to be evacuated as spreading fire razed 19 300 hectares of farmland to the ground.
“Hundreds of animals had to be moved to safety as flames came closer to a zoo in Bassin d’Arcachon, near the Atlantic coast,” the news service said.
In Spain, where authorities battled to contain about 20 fires in areas like Extremadura on its border with Portugal, it took the country’s dubious tally of total land destroyed by fire so far this year to 134 168 hectares.
In various cities across affected areas, from London to Amsterdam and elsewhere, authorities deployed municipal officials across suburbs, hosing down streets in a bid to keep tar from melting.
The expected arrival of the Mistral wind in the Rhone valley of south-eastern France has added to the sense of foreboding felt across Western Europe, with authorities warning that it could spell disaster for regions prone to igniting under the merciless heat.
The out-of-control temperatures have also brought about extreme drought in places, causing rivers like the Po to run at their lowest levels in 70 years.
Italy’s longest tributary for its agricultural sector is running too low to sustain grain production in that area, which means Italy could be forced to import – which could cause a food crisis, coming as it does at a time when Russia is continuing to bomb the Port of Odessa. This is despite the weekend’s announcement that grain exports from Ukraine will be allowed to recommence.
With its own grain-producing region under threat, and exports from nearby Ukraine unlikely, Italy may have to look to more remote sources to keep its granaries full.
In addition to its effect on the Po, drought across Northern Europe has also driven the Rhine River to its lowest level in 14 years, threatening to disrupt one of the most important inland waterways used as a supply artery by the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland.
To make matters worse, power stations have dropped output as low as possible to keep coal-fired emissions in check, all in a bid to prevent temperatures spiking on the back of fossil-fuel power generation.
However, with gas supply from Russia severely constrained because of sanctions related to the war in Ukraine, demand for more energy to cool homes and offices is increasing out west.
But the UN has warned that the current scenes of fiery devastation experienced in Europe will be repeated, and are likely to worsen, unless drastic measures are taken to address global warming – and burning coal for electricity is not the answer.
