LONDON: A fierce heatwave left much of western Europe sweltering on Tuesday, fuelling ferocious wildfires and stretching emergency services, as it pushed north and took temperatures to record levels.

After Britain’s warmest night on record, the country’s Met Office said 39.1 Celsius (102.4 Fahrenheit) was provisionally recorded in Charlwood, near Gatwick Airport, south of London.

“If confirmed, this will be the highest temperature ever recorded in the UK,” the Met Office meteorological agency said.

“Temperatures are likely to rise further through today,” it added, with predictions that Britain would breach the 40C mark for the first time.

Experts blame climate change for the punishing weather

Experts blame climate change for the latest heatwave and note the more frequent extreme weather will only worsen in years to come.

The high temperatures have triggered an unprecedented red alert for extreme heat in much of England and Wales, where some rail lines were closed as a precaution and schools shuttered in some areas.

“A lot of our infrastructure is just not built for this temperature,” Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News.

“Let record-breaking UK temperatures and tragic deaths in Europe be the wake-up call the world needs to stop climate change from claiming any more lives,” said Tim Wainwright, chief executive of the charity WaterAid.

In France, various towns and cities in the country’s west registered their highest-ever temperatures on Monday, the national weather office said.

The western region of Brittany — normally cool and often wet in summer — set new record highs above 40C.

As the heatwave moves northeast on Tuesday, replaced by cooler air from the Atlantic offering some respite, weather authorities lifted their top red alert level in 15 departments.

But dozens of departments remained on orange alert, with temperatures still expected to top 40C in the east and south and violent thunderstorms forecast locally.

The heatwave — the second to engulf parts of Europe in recent weeks — has contributed to deadly wildfires in France, Greece, Portugal and Spain, destroying vast tracts of land.

Firefighters in France’s southwest were still struggling to contain two massive fires that have caused widespread destruction and forced tens of thousands of people to leave their homes.

Nearly 1,700 firefighters from all over the country, supported by significant air resources, are battling the two blazes that have so far burned nearly 17,000 hectares (42,000 acres) of forest.

“It’s heartbreaking,” said Patrick Davet, mayor of La Teste-de-Buch, the site of one inferno which has prompted mass evacuations.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2022