PARIS – On Saturday, Spain, France, and other western European countries sweltered in a scorching June heatwave that triggered forest fires and raised fears that such early summer heatwaves could become the norm.
Saturday’s weather was the apex of a June heatwave, which is in keeping with scientists’ forecasts that such events will now occur earlier in the year as a result of global warming.
Biarritz, one of the country’s most popular seaside resorts, experienced its highest ever temperature of 41 degrees, according to state forecaster Meteo France. Hundreds of people created lines and traffic jams outside aquatic leisure zones in France, with some viewing water as the only way to escape the oppressive heat. Because bathing in the Seine was prohibited, burnt Parisians sought refuge in the city’s reservoirs.
On Saturday, temperatures in France could reach 42 degrees Celsius in some locations, according to Meteo France, which also noted that June records was already being broken in 11 areas on Friday.
According to Matthieu Sorel, a climatologist at Meteo France, “this is the earliest heatwave ever recorded in France” since 1947.
He dubbed the weather a “marker of climate change” since “many monthly or perhaps all-time temperature records are anticipated to be beaten in various places.”
