- Saudi crown prince says no Israel ties without Palestinian state
- Canada to further cut international student, foreign worker permits
- YouTube launches new TV-focused tools for creators
- White Sox heading for worst season in MLB history
- China the top challenge in US history: senior diplomat
- Hong Kong democracy tycoon's son warns time running out
- New migraine drugs no better than cheap painkillers: big study
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs again denied bail in sex trafficking case
- Brewers clinch division title as MLB playoff race heats up
- Man City blunted by 'giant' Inter in Champions League stalemate
- US stocks dip despite larger Fed interest rate cut
- Man City held by Inter as PSG pinch win in Champions League
- All Blacks recall Beauden Barrett for Australia Test
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 20, wound 450
- Spurs late show saves Postecoglou blushes at Coventry
- PSG snatch late goal to beat Champions League debutants Girona
- Gittens' late double gives Dortmund Champions League win at Brugge
- Man City blunted by Inter in Champions League stalemate
- Hidden talent: French Olympic star Marchand opts for disguise
- MrBeast named in California lawsuit over 'Beast Games' show
- Gauff splits with Gilbert as coach after 14-month run
- Hundreds of thousands at risk in Sudan's El-Fasher: UN
- Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge
- Venezuelan opposition candidate says letter conceding election was coerced
- Ukraine official claims Russian advance in Kursk has been 'stopped'
- X update allows app to bypass Brazil ban: internet providers
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 14, wound 450
- US Fed makes aggressive rate cut, weeks before election
- Arsenal's Odegaard faces lengthy injury absence
- India coal expansion risks massive methane growth: report
- China the top challenge in US history, top diplomat says
- US Fed makes larger half-point cut in first reduction since 2020
- Ronaldo's Al Nassr appoint former AC Milan boss Pioli
- Ainslie 'relieved' as British book place in Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Struggling Roma replace sacked icon De Rossi with Ivan Juric
- Women's NBA will add 15th team in Portland in 2026
- Brazil fires need harsher punishment: environmental police boss
- Boeing to start large temporary furloughs amid Seattle strike
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill nine, wound 300
- 'Emergency' declared over falling UK butterfly numbers
- McIlroy outlines threats to golf peace deal
- Stock markets, dollar slip before US rate decision
- Russian advance in Kursk 'stopped': Ukraine official to AFP
- UN members demand end to 'unlawful' Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories
- Snapchat pushes 'safer' platform image, but not everyone agrees
- Three dead, 100 wounded in new wave of Lebanon device explosions
- So where does the oceans' plastic waste come from?
- Allied war heroes buried in Netherlands... 80 years on
- Marsh coy over Australia's choice to open alongside Head
- New London sculpture pays tribute to trans community
RBGPF | 5.79% | 60.5 | $ | |
JRI | 0.45% | 13.44 | $ | |
BCC | 1.33% | 137.06 | $ | |
BCE | 3.09% | 35.61 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.02% | 25.055 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.12% | 24.98 | $ | |
NGG | -0.46% | 70.05 | $ | |
SCS | 0.71% | 14.11 | $ | |
RELX | -0.82% | 47.37 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.37% | 6.55 | $ | |
RIO | -0.02% | 62.91 | $ | |
VOD | 0.49% | 10.23 | $ | |
GSK | -0.31% | 42.43 | $ | |
AZN | 0.06% | 78.58 | $ | |
BP | -0.37% | 32.43 | $ | |
BTI | -0.34% | 37.88 | $ |
Spain in grip of heatwave as France braces for soaring temperatures
Spain was on Monday already in the grips of a heatwave expected to reach "extreme" levels, and France is bracing for one, too, as meteorologists blame the unusually high seasonal temperatures on global warming.
The "unusual" temperatures for the time of year follow the hottest May in at least 100 years in Spain, Ruben del Campo, spokesman for the Spanish Meteorological Agency (Aemet) said.
He told AFP that the current heatwave would bring "extreme temperatures" and "could last until the end of the week".
The mercury will rise above 40 degrees Celsius (around 104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the day in many Spanish towns and remain high at night, above 20 to 22 degrees, he said.
The heatwave is also set to hit other parts of Europe, such as France, in the next few days, del Campo warned.
France's weather service said the heatwave would hit southern regions from Tuesday night, worsening a drought across much of the country that is threatening farm harvests.
From Wednesday, much of France will be sweltering in temperatures that could reach 38 or even 40 degrees C -- "extremely early" for the season -- forecaster Frederic Nathan of Meteo-France told AFP.
Water use restrictions are already in place in 35 departments -- around a third of the country -- and utilities are urging farmers, factories and public service providers to show "restraint" to avoid further depletions of water tables.
- 'Not normal' -
Spain has experienced four episodes of extreme temperatures in the last 10 months.
A heatwave last August set a new record, with the temperature hitting 47.4 degrees C in the southern city of Montoro.
"This extreme heat is not normal at this time during the spring," del Campo said, attributing it to global warming.
Temperatures were also "exceptionally high" between Christmas and New Year's Day.
According to Aemet forecasts, temperatures could reach 43 degrees C in the southern region of Andalusia, especially the cities of Cordoba or Seville, in the next few days.
Since the pre-industrial era, Spain has seen temperatures rise by 1.7 degrees C on average, del Campo said.
Not only have temperatures become more extreme, he said, but periods of heat have become more frequent.
Summers in Spain, he added, "are a bit hotter every year and getting longer and longer. A summer lasts one month longer than in the 1980s."
Apart from the consequences on human health, he warned of the environmental impact, with a high risk of drought and water supply problems, and more fires.
Recent science has shown beyond any doubt that climate change has already increased the frequency and intensity of heatwaves, and that worse is on the horizon no matter how quickly humanity draws down carbon pollution.
Earth has already warmed 1.1 degrees C since pre-industrial times.
The decade from 2011 to 2020 was the warmest on record, and the last six years the hottest ever registered.
Y.Bouchard--BTB