Official blames arsonists for the majority of 667 blazes that have spread in the extreme weather
Most of the 667 fires that have erupted across Greece in recent weeks were started “by human hand”, the country’s senior climate crisis official has said.
As the Mediterranean country emerges from an unprecedented, 15-day period of heatwave-induced infernos, the scale of the destruction is finally being laid bare.
Continue reading...Between 250 and 275 million will face heat indexes of 90F as heatwave moves into parts of Great Plains, midwest and north-east
Over 170 million Americans are under heat alerts this week, according to the National Weather Service, as a heat wave that has affected the southern US for weeks has expanded into parts of the Great Plains, midwest and north-east US.
Between 250 and 275 million people in the US will face heat indexes of at least 90F (32C), as the US braces for the hottest weather of the summer averaged across the country.
Continue reading...There were few people to be seen in Mystras as temperatures were forecast to reach 46C
“It’s hot,” said Panagiotis Vahaviolos, with some understatement. “So hot it’s a little difficult to move.” On the hottest day of the longest and most intense heatwave to befall Greece since record-keeping began, the restaurateur had sought sanctuary in the shadows to escape the fierce sun.
Neither he, nor anyone else, if they could help it, was moving in Mystras, the settlement beneath the great hilltop fortress that is the country’s most significant Byzantine site. In temperatures nudging 44C, life had come to a standstill. With the exception of holidaymakers who had reached the village’s flag-stoned central square, there were few people to be seen.
Continue reading...The 90-100F readings add to previous warnings over warming water putting marine life and ecosystems in peril
The surface ocean temperature around the Florida Keys soared to 101.19F (38.43C) this week, in what could be a global record as ocean heat around the state reaches unprecedented extremes.
A water temperature buoy located in the waters of Manatee Bay at the Everglades national park recorded the high temperature late on Monday afternoon, US government data showed. Other nearby buoys topped 100F (38C) and the upper 90s (32C).
Continue reading...Three people killed in Sicily fires and four in northern storms as hundreds forced to flee homes
Seven people have died in the past 24 hours as two extreme weather events split Italy between wildfires in the south and violent storms in the north.
Fires in Sicily caused the temporary closure of Palermo airport after temperatures in the city climbed to 47C on Monday.
Continue reading...Patrick Courtown sounds warning as evacuation flights head to Greek island to rescue stranded Britons
Wildfires in Rhodes are a “wake-up call” on the effects of the climate crisis, a UK government minister has said, as empty planes were sent to the Greek island to help bring home stranded Britons.
After a mass evacuation from parts of Rhodes, members of the House of Lords were told the situation was “stabilising” and there was no immediate need for the government to advise people to stop travelling there.
Continue reading...Kyriakos Mitsotakis warns of difficult summer ahead as wildfires continue to rage and more tourists fly home
The Mediterranean is a “hotspot for climate change”, the Greek prime minister has said, as more tourists boarded repatriation flights home and a firefighting mission ended in tragedy when a water-bombing plane crashed into a hillside.
The water bomber, a Canadair CL215, smashed into a hillside in Evia in the battle to extinguish flames near a village outside Karystos. Greece’s airforce, to which the plane belongs said it was being flown by two Greek pilots, and they had launched a rescue mission.
Continue reading...Two children among the missing when vehicles were submerged on road after more than 200m of rain pummeled some regions
The body of a 52-year old man and other human remains have been discovered by emergency teams searching for four people who went missing in historic flooding after more than 200mm (7.87in) of rain pummeled some regions of Nova Scotia at the weekend.
The man’s body was found near West Hants in Nova Scotia, on the south-eastern coast of Canada, where search and rescue teams were looking for two children, a youth and a man who were in two vehicles which became submerged in flood water.
Continue reading...About 7,500 firefighters trying to bring blazes under control and 1,500 people evacuated as heatwave spreads
Thirty-four people including 10 soldiers have been killed by wildfires in the mountainous Béjaïa and Bouïra regions of Algeria, as a heatwave spreads across north Africa and southern Europe.
About 8,000 firefighters were trying to bring the flames under control, authorities said, adding that about 1,500 people had been evacuated.
Continue reading...Government claims 98% success rate for cloud seeding but critics urge improving irrigation and water supply systems
Amid a historic heatwave and months of drought, Mexico’s government has launched the latest phase of a cloud seeding project it hopes will increase rainfall.
The project, which began in July, involves planes flying into clouds to release silver iodide particles which then, in theory, will attract additional water droplets and increase rain or snowfall.
Continue reading...Thousands of people forced to evacuate on Greek island, including 3,000 who had to be ferried off beaches
Thousands of tourists and residents have been forced to evacuate several villages on the Greek island of Rhodes as wildfires burned out of control and officials feared that high winds would hamper efforts to contain the flames on Sunday.
The fires have burned for nearly a week on part of the island, as Greece has been battered by an extended spell of extreme heat that has made it difficult to contain the spread of the blazes.
Continue reading...Body found near where two-year-old Matilda Sheils was carried away as search continues for her nine-month-old brother, Conrad
The body of a young girl was recovered Friday in the Delaware River and was believed to be a two-year-old who was one of two children swept away from their family’s vehicle by a flash flood last weekend, authorities said.
The body was found in the early evening near a Philadelphia wastewater treatment plant about 30 miles (50km) from where Matilda Sheils was carried away, authorities said in a nighttime news conference.
Continue reading...The state’s snowpack, full from winter storms, has not yet melted, while the rest of the region bakes in summer temperatures
While most of California swelters through a prolonged, extreme heatwave, Mammoth Mountain ski resort in the eastern Sierras announced that it would be extending its season into early August.
“We are stoked to announce that we’re staying open,” the resort, which saw its snowiest season on record this winter, announced on Instagram. Mammoth Mountain had planned to remain open through the end of July and is now planning to close on 6 August. Located along eastern Sierra Nevada, the resort often stays open into June or July – but this season will be only the third to extend into August in its 69-year operating history.
Continue reading...Phoenix and Californian town of Needles experiencing 70th day in which temperatures have reached 90F
A brutal heatwave is persisting throughout much of the US, with cities across the south-west reaching all-time records for hottest consecutive days. Intense heatwaves are becoming more frequent as a result of the climate crisis, but alarmingly, these streaks of hot days are also lasting longer.
People living in cities in Arizona, California and Texas are entering their second month of days in which the temperature reaches 90F (32.2C) and above. Cities such as Phoenix, and Needles in California, have had no relief from this extreme heat in the past 70 days, with Phoenix recently experiencing three consecutive weeks of temperatures reaching 110F (43.3C) and above.
Continue reading...Temperatures reached as high as 53.3C in the US and flooding hit South Korea and India
A remote township in the north-western region of Xinjiang set a Chinese record of 52.2C (125.9F) on Sunday – in a country that was battling -50C weather six months ago. Sanbao is in the Turpan Depression, an arid basin of sand dunes and dried-up lakes where 50.3C was recorded in 2015. Beijing topped its record for high-temperature days in a year on Tuesday, with 27 days above 35C. The temperature in its southern suburbs soared even higher on Wednesday to 36.3C.
Continue reading...People buying full-face masks alongside hats, fans – and hats with inbuilt fans – as temperatures rise above 35C
In scorching Beijing, “facekinis” are the hottest new fashion as surging temperatures shatter records.
With the air temperature rising above 35C (95F) and the ground surface temperature soaring as high as 80C in some parts of the country, residents and visitors have taken to carrying portable fans and covering themselves up to avoid getting burnt. Some hats even have fans built in.
Continue reading...High temperature ‘may have been a factor’ in death of 71-year-old Steve Curry in Golden Canyon area, park officials say
A 71-year-old man collapsed and died in Death Valley on Tuesday as temperatures in the valley – the point of lowest elevation in North America as well as one of the hottest places in the world – reached at least 121F (49.4C).
“Heat may have been a factor in his death,” Death Valley national park officials said in a press release.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: How countries have responded to record-breaking temperatures – and what it will take to change minds and policy
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Good morning.
When the temperature in Sicily is approaching 50C, you know something is wrong.
New Zealand | Two people died and six people were injured after a shooting at a building site in Auckland city centre, hours before the Women’s World Cup is due to start. The gunman was also dead. New Zealand’s PM, Chris Hipkins, said the World Cup would proceed as planned.
Politics | Almost 200,000 families living under Labour-run councils are affected by the two-child benefit cap, a Guardian analysis has revealed. Keir Starmer’s decision not to scrap the policy if Labour wins power has led to attacks from anti-poverty campaigners and disquiet from senior figures in the party.
Health | MPs have urged the government to introduce restrictions on the packaging and marketing of disposable vapes to tackle the “alarming trend” of children using these addictive products. The health and social care committee said there should be restrictions on how e-cigarettes are sold, in line with those applied to tobacco products.
Slavery | Caribbean countries are considering approaching the UN’s international court of justice for a legal opinion on demanding compensation from 10 European countries over slavery, as the fight for reparative justice is stepped up. Ralph Gonsalves, the current leader of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, said he is also looking for an apology from the British government and expressed disappointment in Rishi Sunak’s lack of engagement in the matter.
Strikes | A strike by train staff in the RMT union will severely affect rail services across Britain in the next week. About 20,000 RMT members at 14 train operators will strike for 24 hours on Thursday and again on Saturday, coinciding with the end of a week-long overtime ban by train drivers in the Aslef union. The 10 days of transport disruption will coincide with the peak summer holiday getaway weekend.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed. To read our latest news on the extreme weather gripping the world, click the links below
Here are some more images from the wires of the wildfires that swept through forestland and towns north-west of Athens for a second day. The fires forced the evacuation of more than 1,000 children close to a Greek seaside resort.
Tourists flocked to China’s scenic Flaming Mountains to experience searing high temperatures amid punishing heatwaves that have scorched much of the northern hemisphere.
Continue reading...Parts of Sicily reach almost 47C and Spanish coastal water temperatures hit new high for mid-July
Temperatures reached almost 47C in southern Italy on Wednesday and factory workers threatened to strike over the extreme heat, while wildfires continued to rage in Greece and temperatures in coastal waters around Spain broke records.
In Sicily, where the European record of 48.8C was registered in August 2021, the mercury climbed to almost 47C in the area between Mazara del Vallo, in the province of Trapani, and Sciacca, in Agrigento province, according to data from ilMeteo.it. Temperatures in Sardinia reached 46C while Rome – where there were energy blackouts on Tuesday due to pressure on the grid believed to be from air conditioners – peaked at 38C.
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