2019 European heatwaves
European heat wave in 2019 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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In late June and late July 2019 there were two temporally distinct European heat waves, which set all-time high temperature records in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.[1]
Type | Heat wave |
---|---|
Areas | Europe |
Start date | 24 June 2019 (2019-06-24) |
End date | 28 July 2019 (2019-07-28) |
Losses | |
Deaths | 3,951+ deaths
|
The first heat wave, in late June, killed over 567 people,[2] and according to meteorologists it was caused by high pressure and winds from the Sahara Desert affecting large parts of the continent.[3] It resulted in record-breaking temperatures for the month of June at many locations.[4][5] France experienced temperatures in excess of 45 °C (113 °F) for the first time in recorded history. A national all-time record high temperature of 46.0 °C (114.8 °F) occurred on 28 June in Vérargues.[6]
In late July, a second heat wave occurred, during which all-time records were broken by 3 °C (5.4 °F) in Belgium, by 2.1 °C (3.8 °F) in Germany and the Netherlands, by 0.3 °C (0.5 °F) in Luxembourg, and by 0.2 °C (0.4 °F) in the United Kingdom. The deaths of 868 people in France and one person in Belgium were reported, along with thousands of animals when ventilation systems in barns were overwhelmed. Due to high river water temperatures and sluggish flows, particularly in France and to some extent Germany, a number of thermal power stations that use once-through cooling and do not have cooling towers had to reduce output or shut down to avoid breaching environmental limits on river water temperature designed to protect aquatic life.[7]