tag

Residents of western Europe turned to fans and fountains as they sweltered through a record-breaking heat wave yesterday, with temperatures set to soar even further.Hit by a so-called "heat dome" of warm air from northern Africa that is pushing the mercury well above normal levels for May, some Europeans even admitted they were considering getting air conditioning, in a region famously averse.Baking in a bright London sun, 47-year-old Gurjit Gill, who works in banking, said he was happy to be going into work — because of the air con."I'm thinking about actually maybe getting an AC unit, because the bedrooms at nighttime are quite unbearable," he told AFP.People across western Europe swarmed beaches, braved the streets clutching handheld fans and umbrellas to fend off the sun, and went for a dip or splashed themselves wherever they could — including Rome's Barcaccia fountain and the bubblers in the Jardin du Palais Royal in Paris.The UK reported its hottest-ever day for May, at 35C near London — breaking a record of 33.5C set Monday — as a high-pressure system trapped warm air over western Europe.In France, which also logged its hottest-ever May day Monday and then again yesterday, the weather agency said the heat wave could last through the week, predicting temperatures could go as high as 39C in some areas.Scientists say human-driven climate change is amplifying such extremes, with weather events like heatwaves, droughts and floods becoming more intense and frequent."This record-breaking heat has the fingerprints of climate change all over it," said Friederike Otto, a professor of climate science at Imperial College London."Temperatures on this scale were once exceptional even at the height of summer... But the science is very clear — climate change makes these heatwaves hotter, longer and far more frequent."Swiss tourist Philippe Bignens, 56, visiting London with his father, told AFP they had to change plans and retreat to their hotel to avoid being outside at the hottest time of day."If you're not concerned about global warming, you must be deaf, blind altogether, right? So it is there, yes. We have to be concerned and try to do something about it," he said.— Deadly turn —Across the English Channel, tennis fans in Paris baked in temperatures of 33C at the French Open, with players battling through heat that Norway's Casper Ruud said left him feeling "like a zombie".Government authorities also noted the heat had taken a deadly turn.French authorities yesterday reported at least seven deaths linked to the heatwave — five of which were drownings, as many people sought relief on beaches and in the water, even though lifeguard supervision is not due to start in many areas until July.Authorities in Britain said four teens had drowned in England since Sunday.A record May temperature of 28.8C was recorded at two of Ireland's weather stations amid the current blast of heat, Met Eireann data showed.In France, news channel BFMTV said its journalists had received threats and insults "from climate-sceptic internet users" over the channel's weather maps — covered in red and "based on broadly accepted scientific facts", it said.— Work affected —Benjamin Boisson, a fruit grower in southern France, worried the extreme fluctuation in temperature would cause a sharp drop in production, as well as complicate storage.Already, a previous warm weather spell forced him to harvest apricots five days earlier than planned this year, on May 1, he said."That may not seem like much, but it changes everything. The major retailers weren't ready and are still selling Spanish apricots when they should have switched over to French ones," he said.Spain's State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) also warned of "extraordinarily high temperatures for this time of year" that will continue all week."Widespread tropical nights" are also forecast in southwestern Spain from today, with temperatures peaking from today to Friday at between 36C and 38C, it wrote on X.Farther east, Italy's Lazio region, which includes Rome, on Monday approved rules limiting work in conditions "with prolonged exposure in the sun" between 12:30pm and 4:00pm.In Austria, Vienna set up special misters to help passersby keep cool on the street.Europe is the continent that has experienced the fastest warming since 1990, closely followed by Asia, with North America in third place, according to data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

A row over the disappearance of a famous river surfing wave in Munich escalated Sunday as authorities removed a beam inserted over Christmas to recreate the attraction.The Eisbach wave on a side branch of the Isar River had been a landmark in the Bavarian city since the 1980s but it vanished in October after annual cleanup work along the riverbed.Activists had placed a beam in the water early on December 25 to partially recreate the wave, according to German media reports, and hung a banner above the water that read "Merry Christmas".However, a spokesman for the Munich fire service told AFP that the "installation was removed" Sunday at the request of city authorities.Activists have made several attempts to reinstate the wave in the city's Englischer Garten park since October – only to see them reversed.The local surfers' association IGSM on Thursday posted a statement on its website saying that it had abandoned its campaign to save the wave, accusing city authorities of dragging their feet.The Eisbach wave was considered the largest and most consistent river wave in the heart of a major city and had become a tourist attraction in Bavaria's state capital.Franz Fasel, head of the IGSM, told AFP in July that 3,000-5,000 local surfers were using it.Access to the wave was cut off for several months earlier this year after the death of a 33-year-old Munich woman who became trapped under the surface while surfing at night. 

A standing wave in a Munich stream that has been a surfing magnet for more than four decades has vanished, leaving urban surfers high and dry.Water levels in the Eisbach ("ice brook") dropped last week for annual cleanup work along the streambed.But when the gates reopened and water began to flow again on Friday, the Eisbach wave did not form as usual."We're at a loss," surfer Klaus Rudolf told Stern magazine. "I was standing at the edge with my board on Friday evening and couldn't believe it."The Eisbach wave in the Englisher Garten park has become a landmark in the Bavarian city since rogue surfers in the 1980s turned it from an occasional natural phenomenon to a permanent surfable presence."The city administration is working with the Water Management Office and surfers to find a quick solution so that the famous surf wave will soon be available again as usual," Mayor Dieter Reiter said in a statement Tuesday.Exactly why the wave vanished remained unclear on Tuesday, according to city officials.The recent work cleared debris from the streambed and inspected the waterway."No structural changes were made to the Eisbach wave or its banks during the cleanup," the city said, and an inspection of the site Monday did not reveal any damage.Officials plan to divert more water from the Isar River into the Eisbach in hopes the wave reappears.The Eisbach wave is generally considered the largest and most consistent river wave in the heart of a major city, and has become a tourist attraction in Bavaria's state capital, which is otherwise known for beer and sausage at the annual Oktoberfest.Franz Fasel, head of the local surfers' association IGSM, told AFP in July that 3,000 to 5,000 local surfers use the Eisbach wave."Surfing is simply part of the lifestyle in Munich," he said. "Not just for the surfers themselves, but also for the city's image."At the time, the Eisbach wave had just reopened after a months-long closure following the April death of a 33-year-old Munich woman who became trapped under the surface while surfing at night.Since it reopened to surfers, new safety rules banned nighttime surfing and set a minimum age of 14 to brave the water.