Areas in Europe, where a total of over 135 million people live, mainly in France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, are expected to be affected by temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius at certain times of the day, according to calculations by Agence France-Presse. This is an increase compared to yesterday, BTA writes.
Nearly three out of every five inhabitants of Europe, excluding Turkey, or about 340 million people, are expected to be exposed to maximum temperatures above 30 degrees today. The analysis is based on forecasts from the German Meteorological Service and the demographic projections for 2025 from the European Commission's Joint Research Centre and confirms data from the Austrian NGO Klimadashboard.
Europe, the continent with the fastest rising temperatures in the world, is facing a new heat wave in August. Yesterday, forecasts indicated that at least 92 million people would face temperatures above 35 degrees.
Today, the most intense heat is expected in the western and southern parts of the continent. In France, temperatures above 35 degrees are predicted for areas with around 50 million inhabitants. Mountainous areas are likely to be less affected, but the heatwave will also affect the northeastern parts of the country, which were spared yesterday.
In Italy, similar temperatures are expected for about 29 million people, especially along the west coast, in the Po River valley, in the southern regions of the country and on the islands.
The heatwave will also affect large parts of the Iberian Peninsula, with about 25 million people in Spain exposed to temperatures above 35 degrees.
The thermometers are also expected to cross the 35 degree threshold for about 23 million residents of the UK, mainly in the densely populated central regions of England, including London. The national weather service said on Tuesday that the country was on track to record its hottest summer ever.
AFP reports that it used a methodology similar to that of Klimadashboard in its calculations, comparing the German weather service's forecast model, prepared at 03:00 GMT, with population density data. Residents of areas where the model predicted temperatures above 30 or above 35 degrees at a given time of day were considered affected.
Because the model is accurate to about 6.5 kilometers, it cannot fully reflect the effect of so-called urban heat islands, David Jablonski of Klimadashboard told AFP. According to the organization, this means that the analysis probably underestimates the number of people affected by the heat in the most densely populated urban areas.