England’s heatwave brings thousands to beaches

Europe is facing one of the hottest summers in recent years. Many countries on the continent have recorded high temperatures.

In the United Kingdom, thousands of people returned to the beaches on Sunday to beat the heat, which could reach 40º this week, a historic record, as the highest temperature officially recorded in the country in July 2019 was 38.7 ° C. National Weather Service, Bureau of Meteorology.

High temperatures are a challenge for Brits as some homes in Britain are built to retain air conditioning and heat.

The Meteorological Department has issued a red alert for tomorrow and Tuesday and advised not to sunbathe between 11 am and 3 pm. The seaside resort of Brighton, 76 kilometers from London, was packed over the weekend while temperatures hovered in the mid-30s.

In the past two weeks, particularly, thermometers have been approaching 40° in countries like France, Spain and Italy. Seville, in southern Spain, should register up to 45ºC.

Prolonged heat waves and droughts are emerging as a weather phenomenon – compounded by global warming – that will hit large parts of Europe during the Northern Hemisphere summer.

Spain and Portugal are experiencing the driest conditions in over a millennium; Italy’s longest river, the Po, is at its lowest level in 70 years, while parts of the Rhine, the most important waterway in western Europe, have not seen low levels in more than 15 years.

Crops are withering and power plants are closing, threatening a region already suffering from inflation, and food and energy prices could rise further.