BRUSSELS — Western Europe is sizzling under yet another brutal heat wave this week, a harbinger of what global warming has in store for the continent — even as climate change slips further and further down the list of political priorities.
Meteorologists say that temperatures in the coming days will smash records for the month of June in several countries. France is bracing for up to 43 degrees Celsius. Spain could see up to 45 C. Temperatures in parts of the U.K., Germany and Italy could reach 40 C — and all that before peak summer.
In Belgium, where temperatures could hit 37 C, the chief forecaster of the national meteorological office said this could become “the hottest week ever recorded” in the country.
Nights will also be exceptionally hot, and won’t drop below 25 C in many parts of Western Europe later this week. The lack of a respite exacerbates so-called heat stress — heat that builds up in the body — leading to illnesses and even death, particularly among vulnerable populations such as the elderly. Some 200,000 people across the EU have died of heat-related causes in the past four years.
