Europe is sweltering under record-breaking temperatures this week as a heatwave, caused by a giant bubble of warm air from the Sahara, wreaks havoc across the continent. Temperatures have reached as high as 43 degrees Celsius (110F) in France, leading to deaths and catastrophic crop failures.
For those of you from hotter climates, at the ready with your "meh, that's just a normal day here" comments, remember, Europe is not used to these kinds of extreme weather conditions! Houses are insulated against the winter cold, and air conditioning is rare. It hit almost 40C in Poland for goodness sake. Poland. This is not a country you would usually associate with such summer heat!
Europeans are dealing with the hot summer temperatures in a variety of ways, from the typical deadpan humor to more practical solutions. Scroll down to check out the reactions for yourself, and if you're in Europe right now, keep yourself and your animals cool and safe!
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Statistics show that heat waves like this are becoming more frequent due to climate change, and are something that Europeans are likely going to have to get used to. “Monthly heat records all over the globe occur five times as often today as they would in a stable climate.” Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research told AP.
"This increase in heat extremes is just as predicted by climate science as a consequence of global warming caused by the increasing greenhouse gases from burning coal, oil and gas.”
I live in France. I'm dying from the heat. If you wonder why is there a 😱 face, it's our face currently due to the climate. Edit: Thanks for the upvotes, I never got so much! 😄
The controlling force of the weather is the Jet Stream, a fast-flowing wind-river that loops around the northern hemisphere at a height of 10 kilometres. The Jet Stream's behavior is linked to Arctic ice cover, which has decreased in recent years.
"The forecast from climate change models and the actuality of the last few years has shown a change to this Jet Stream," Al Jazeera's Rob McElwee said.
"It now has much greater loops, draped over North America and Eurasia, whereas a tighter, straighter flow used to be the norm. A looped Jet Stream induces long-lasting, low-pressure circulations and high-pressure domes," he added.
Such a set-up has drawn air up from North Africa, in a southerly breeze, to cover Western Europe. Over the coming days the hot weather will be increasingly confined to France, Italy and Spain as a cooler breeze flows across northern and central Europe.
Dim Coumou, a scientist at the Free University of Amsterdam, also said that melting Arctic sea ice is affecting atmospheric circulation, which in turn makes extreme weather more likely.
“Data analysis shows that the normally eastward travelling summer circulation of the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes has slowed down, including the Jet Stream,” he said. “This favors the buildup of hot and dry conditions over the continent, sometimes turning a few sunny days into dangerous heat waves.”
Heatwaves can become really dangerous when they take place in early summer. Europe's 2003 heatwave resulted in the deaths of an estimated 70,000 people, let's hope that this year people are better prepared for the incoming inferno.
i've got no air conditioned in my car. figure that in 40+ degrees
Our cats saw this and liked your suggestion for a bird trap. They're trying to push their water bowl to the balcony now :-)
coconut oil melts at 24-25 °C so not very hot weather/water is necessary.
For other people who use Fahrenheit instead of Celcius, that's 122 degrees!
As an Australian most of this advice is good BUT you should reapply sunscreen every 2 hours on scorching days. Always better to be safe than sorry. This is the best motto Slip, slop, slap, seek and slide. Slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen, slap on a hat, seek shade and slide on sunnies. It’s a simple as that.
Well then moving forward the stores need to change their setup or this is just going to get worse every year and her worry will be justified. They should expand that section.
Note: this post originally had 44 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
I'm reading this while starfishing nekkid in front of my fan. We Europeans aren't built for this nonsense! Where's the rain? WHERE'S OUR RAIN HUH?
apparently it's all in Russia. We have +14 degrees and raining all week here in mid-Volga region.
In the midwest USA drowning our cows and corn
Sure is!
You do not want rain. Sounds like it would make it cooler but, with those tempatures, it will only crank up the humidity. My normal summer is 32-33 temps and 98% humidity. The heat is bad enough without it feeling like you're having to breathe through a hot wet towel.
we need rain because our forests are dying.
Canaries Islands, great climate 21`C wind chill 22mph
"starfishing nekkid in front of my fan" LOL That's exactly what I do and my husband makes fun of me! LOL
Think Antarctica, or Greenland. Just BECOME an ice cube!! *_*
duplicate -_-
Mind if I join you? Then I can steal your fan.
I'm from Texas, but lived in the arid parts with really dry heat, and temps got this hot all summer. I feel so much for the people overseas having to deal with this. Get yourselves a camelback(water backpack) , wear it everywhere and keep it filled. Cold water might seem refreshing, but it can raise your core temp, so drink warm water to cool yourself down... unless you're in heat stroke/exhaustion. Watch out for the signs of HS/HE in people,pets/animals and yourself. Hopefully there is some relief soon!
Amen to hydration. People will tough it out, not realizing they're getting HS until they are already puking.
We have also humidity, so when there's no wind at all, it's quite oppressing !
Do you have a source for that? (IE cold water raises core temp) I quickly google'd it and surprisingly got no hits.
Whilst in a way these posts are funny, I do hope the vulnerable can find somewhere cool especially coz a lot of residents wouldn’t have air conditioning and are at risk of severe heat stroke and sadly it can be fatal. Also beware of seatbelts, they can become a good branding iron.
I feel the same way as a Canadian when I read about record cold temps that would feel like a warm summer day compared to what I deal with every winter. I have to try to keep in mind those temps are not the norm everywhere and there can be consequences.
Exactly, it is easy to say that we deal with this in Australia etc but these countries are not used to the heat and residents generally don’t have air cons or other appliances and equipment to cool down. It would be like me in Adelaide having snow, yes we have heaters and blankets but we don’t usually have snow gear to protect us from the elements if we had to shop, work etc. I am absolutely freezing in anything under 15 degrees.
Yup - it's important to share info on how to deal with the weather. I'm used to -30C and snow up past my knees - but to newcomers, it's a huge adjustment and folks could become badly hurt or even die if they don't know how to deal with it.
If you live in Saskatchewan or Manitoba, you're used to dealing with both conditions. Brutally cold winters and blistering hot summers.
Same! It’s 100F right now where I am, at 4pm. It’s 100 on the other side of the world where I was born, and it’s 1am there. If it were 60F, I’d be cold and uncomfortable. But to some people that’s a perfect warm day. People need to be considerate of everyone’s differences before mocking people for being hot when it’s hot outside. Europeans might want to warm up to the idea of air conditioning soon though. People shouldn’t have to suffer and die just because it’s hot.
Most hot countries where people are saying crap like "that's a cool day for us" don't get the suffocating levels of humidity that countries like the UK get.
Yes, I recall a heat wave a few years ago where I believe thousands of people in France died, mostly the elderly and sick.
That was 2003. The most heartbreaking to me were the thousands of elderly dead people that nobody reclaimed... :'-(
I'm reading this while starfishing nekkid in front of my fan. We Europeans aren't built for this nonsense! Where's the rain? WHERE'S OUR RAIN HUH?
apparently it's all in Russia. We have +14 degrees and raining all week here in mid-Volga region.
In the midwest USA drowning our cows and corn
Sure is!
You do not want rain. Sounds like it would make it cooler but, with those tempatures, it will only crank up the humidity. My normal summer is 32-33 temps and 98% humidity. The heat is bad enough without it feeling like you're having to breathe through a hot wet towel.
we need rain because our forests are dying.
Canaries Islands, great climate 21`C wind chill 22mph
"starfishing nekkid in front of my fan" LOL That's exactly what I do and my husband makes fun of me! LOL
Think Antarctica, or Greenland. Just BECOME an ice cube!! *_*
duplicate -_-
Mind if I join you? Then I can steal your fan.
I'm from Texas, but lived in the arid parts with really dry heat, and temps got this hot all summer. I feel so much for the people overseas having to deal with this. Get yourselves a camelback(water backpack) , wear it everywhere and keep it filled. Cold water might seem refreshing, but it can raise your core temp, so drink warm water to cool yourself down... unless you're in heat stroke/exhaustion. Watch out for the signs of HS/HE in people,pets/animals and yourself. Hopefully there is some relief soon!
Amen to hydration. People will tough it out, not realizing they're getting HS until they are already puking.
We have also humidity, so when there's no wind at all, it's quite oppressing !
Do you have a source for that? (IE cold water raises core temp) I quickly google'd it and surprisingly got no hits.
Whilst in a way these posts are funny, I do hope the vulnerable can find somewhere cool especially coz a lot of residents wouldn’t have air conditioning and are at risk of severe heat stroke and sadly it can be fatal. Also beware of seatbelts, they can become a good branding iron.
I feel the same way as a Canadian when I read about record cold temps that would feel like a warm summer day compared to what I deal with every winter. I have to try to keep in mind those temps are not the norm everywhere and there can be consequences.
Exactly, it is easy to say that we deal with this in Australia etc but these countries are not used to the heat and residents generally don’t have air cons or other appliances and equipment to cool down. It would be like me in Adelaide having snow, yes we have heaters and blankets but we don’t usually have snow gear to protect us from the elements if we had to shop, work etc. I am absolutely freezing in anything under 15 degrees.
Yup - it's important to share info on how to deal with the weather. I'm used to -30C and snow up past my knees - but to newcomers, it's a huge adjustment and folks could become badly hurt or even die if they don't know how to deal with it.
If you live in Saskatchewan or Manitoba, you're used to dealing with both conditions. Brutally cold winters and blistering hot summers.
Same! It’s 100F right now where I am, at 4pm. It’s 100 on the other side of the world where I was born, and it’s 1am there. If it were 60F, I’d be cold and uncomfortable. But to some people that’s a perfect warm day. People need to be considerate of everyone’s differences before mocking people for being hot when it’s hot outside. Europeans might want to warm up to the idea of air conditioning soon though. People shouldn’t have to suffer and die just because it’s hot.
Most hot countries where people are saying crap like "that's a cool day for us" don't get the suffocating levels of humidity that countries like the UK get.
Yes, I recall a heat wave a few years ago where I believe thousands of people in France died, mostly the elderly and sick.
That was 2003. The most heartbreaking to me were the thousands of elderly dead people that nobody reclaimed... :'-(