Category Archives: Extreme weather

UK people of colour four times more likely to live in areas ‘at higher risk from heatwaves’

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Study found that the most at-risk neighbourhoods were also among the most ethnically diverse and have lower carbon footprints than average

People of colour are four times more likely to live in areas at high risk from heatwaves in the UK as the climate heats up, according to experts.

Researchers at the University of Manchester and Friends of the Earth found one in three people from minority ethnic groups lived in areas most exposed to extreme heat, compared with just one in 12 white people.

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Storms threaten more disruption on heels of record-breaking UK heat

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After temperatures reached 40C, scientists warn of such episodes every three years if emissions are not lowered

Hundreds of firefighters battled blazes across England on Tuesday as temperatures surged to a historic high of 40.3C, capping two days of extreme heat that scientists warn is “a wake up call” for the climate emergency.

The temperature is set to drop by up to 10C in some areas on Wednesday, with heavy showers and thunderstorms predicted in parts of northern England and southern Scotland, with the potential for localised flooding, lightning strikes, transport disruption and power cuts.

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Extreme UK weather live: temperature passes 40C for first time; London fire brigade warns of ‘huge surge in fires’

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London Heathrow records hottest ever temperature; London mayor Sadiq Khan says major incident has been declared

Met Office chief meteorologist Neil Armstrong has a helpful explanation of what the chances are of the UK reaching 40C today and what this would represent:

Even higher maximum temperatures will develop tomorrow with a 70% chance of somewhere in England exceeding 40°C. A value of this level would exceed the current UK record by 1.3°C or more. This is akin to a marathon runner shaving 20 minutes off of the current record.

Weather forecast models are run numerous times to help us quantify the likelihood of a particular event occurring and estimate the uncertainty which is always present in weather forecasting to some degree. Some models are now producing a 70% chance of maximum temperatures in excess of 40°C in isolated parts of the UK for the start of next week. Mid- to high-30s Celsius will be seen more widely with a 95% chance we will exceed the current record.

Climate change has already influenced the likelihood of temperature extremes in the UK. The chances of seeing 40°C days in the UK could be as much as 10 times more likely in the current climate than under a natural climate unaffected by human influence. The likelihood of exceeding 40°C anywhere in the UK in a given year has also been rapidly increasing, and, even with current pledges on emissions reductions, such extremes could be taking place every 15 years in the climate of 2100.

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Global heating hits home up north as it sizzles along with UK south

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Analysis: As heat records break across Britain, the north of England and Scotland are reassessing the effects of the climate crisis

Newspaper readers in the UK’s northern half were used to scowling at the front pages every time they declared a sizzling summer. “It may well be sizzling in the south but it’s chucking it down in Hull/freezing in Wrexham/blowing a hoolie in Aberdeen” they grumbled, as they put on another cardigan or rescued the washing from a downpour.

Not this time. With a few exceptions (it’s still coat weather for those living in Shetland) much of the UK really has been outrageously hot this week. Whether it is asphalt melting, schools shutting or allotments withering, all but the most hardcore of climate crisis deniers now accept people are experiencing the effects of global heating in their own communities.

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Spanish man filmed escaping wildfire treated for serious burns

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Man in 50s emerges from blaze with clothes burned to rags and flames flickering around him

A Spanish man in his 50s is being treated for serious burns after escaping the flames that engulfed his excavator as he tried to fight one of the wildfires raging in the north-western region of Castilla y León.

Video of the incident, which took place near the town of Tábara in Zamora province on Monday afternoon, shows the vehicle and its driver, Ángel Martín Arjona, being swallowed by the fire and disappearing behind drifts of smoke.

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Towering waves in Hawaii crash into homes, barrel through wedding venue

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A strong winter storm in the South Pacific produced the swell which headed for the islands, bringing waves more than 20ft high

Towering waves on Hawaii’s south shores crashed into houses and businesses, spilled across highways and upended weddings over the weekend.

The large waves, some more than 20ft (6m) high, came from a combination of a strong south swell that peaked Saturday evening, particularly high tides and rising sea levels associated with climate change, the National Weather Service said Monday.

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France braces for record temperatures as wildfires rage across Europe

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Thousands evacuated as above 40C forecast for some French regions on Monday and more lives lost in soaring heat in Spain

France was bracing on Monday for the peak of the heatwave gripping the country, with crushing temperatures expected from the Mediterranean, as wildfires continued to rage across Europe.

Forecasters have put 15 departments in France on the highest state of alert for extreme temperatures, including Gironde in the south-west, where wildfires have already wrought havoc.

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‘Meltdown Monday’ and ‘Blowtorch Britain’: what the papers say about UK heatwave

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‘Ferocious’ temperatures loom while the Conservative leadership debate is wrung out on the UK front pages of Monday 18 July 2022

“Red alert: ‘ferocious’ heatwave set to send temperatures beyond 40C” – the Guardian leads with the weather and a picture of firefighters on duty in France. The Conservative party’s TV bloodletting is wrapped up as well: “Tory leadership debate exposes deep divisions”. The intro says it was a “bad-tempered” show.

“Blowtorch Britain” says the Mirror, as “42C record heat is on”. The “revellers” shown jumping into the sea at Brighton look happy enough to brave the conditions.

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UK heatwave: people urged not to use trains from Monday

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Network Rail says to avoid trains unless absolutely necessary, with much of country covered by extreme heat alert

Passengers have been urged not to travel by train from Monday as a record-breaking heatwave hits the UK, while the deputy prime minister said schools should not close and people should be resilient enough to “enjoy the sunshine”.

The country’s first ever red warning for exceptional heat comes into force at midnight on Sunday, with temperatures expected to climb up to 41C (105.8F) over the next two days, breaking the country’s heat records.

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Firefighters tackle southern Europe wildfires as heatwave passes 45C

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Portugal and Spain among countries affected as rescue forces from Greece help battle blazes in southern France

Firefighters are working tirelessly to tackle wildfires raging in parts of southern Europe as a result of soaring temperatures linked to the climate crisis.

France, Portugal and Spain are among the European countries particularly affected, with temperatures of more than 45C (113F) recorded during a heatwave that is also sweeping the UK.

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England braces for 40C temperatures as experts warn thousands could die

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Level 4 heat alert announced for next week means ‘illness and death may occur among the fit and healthy’

Thousands of people could die in the coming heatwave, experts have warned, as the government triggered the first ever national emergency heat red alert with a record 40C (104F) temperature forecast for south-east England on Tuesday.

Health officials fear people living alone on upper floors of buildings are among those who could perish, as people did in Paris in 2003. Last year two lesser heat episodes caused about 1,600 excess deaths, according to official figures.

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Avoid booze and close the curtains: how to cope in England’s 40C heatwave

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Health officials are advising people how to stay safe during expected record temperatures next week

Put that cold beer down, hold the iced coffee and shut the window. Common tricks for keeping cool in a British summer do not apply to the sweltering, record-breaking temperatures forecast for much of England early next week.

Heat of 40C (104F) is a risk to life and not only to vulnerable people. Healthy people who do not take care were also in danger, government health officials warned on Friday. So go easy on the caffeine and alcohol, pull the curtains, drink water and stay indoors during the hottest parts of the day. Importantly, do not presume the air outside is cooler than inside. But, most of all, check that people who live alone or in potentially hot and stuffy rooms are safe.

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Thousands evacuated as heat causes wildfires in Europe and north Africa

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Portugal declares ‘state of contingency’ as France, Spain and Morocco also battle fires, while record heat hits China

Thousands of people in Portugal, Spain, France and Morocco have been evacuated from their homes as firefighters tackle wildfires caused by this week’s heatwave, which has brought extreme temperatures of more than 45C (113F) to parts of Europe and north Africa.

One person has died and at least 135 people have suffered mainly minor injuries since wildfires began in Portugal last week. A “state of contingency” has been in effect since Sunday, and about 800 people have been evacuated from their homes, according to the country’s Civil Protection Authority.

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Shanghai declares third rare extreme heat warning of summer

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Temperatures of over 40C cause red alert in the city and test records as heatwave ravages parts of Europe

China’s most populous city, Shanghai, has issued its highest alert for extreme heat for the third time this summer as sweltering temperatures repeatedly tested records this week.

The commercial and industrial hub of 25 million people declared a red alert on Thursday, warning of expected temperatures of at least 40C (104F) in the next 24 hours. Temperatures soared as high as 40.6 C in the afternoon but fell short of Wednesday’s 40.9 C, which matched a 2017 record.

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Cop27 summit must focus on how world will adapt to climate change, says UN envoy

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Mahmoud Mohieldin tells Sydney audience Egypt talks will need to get from ‘summits to solutions’ amid increasing wild weather

Mahmoud Mohieldin, the United Nations climate change high-level champion for Egypt, says November’s Cop27 summit must focus on adapting to life in a changing climate and grapple with finance for loss and damage given the increasing frequency of extreme weather events.

Mohieldin told the Sydney Energy Forum on Wednesday adaptation had been “forgotten for many years” at UN climate conferences “because of a generous assumption that we are going to be doing fantastically well on mitigation, so nobody should worry about adaptation”.

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Dangerous heatwaves engulf parts of China, US and Europe

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At least 86 Chinese cities issue alerts, while temperatures soar in south-west and central US and Iberian peninsula

Dangerous heatwaves are engulfing parts of China, Europe, south-west and central US this week, as dozens of cities have found themselves dealing with soaring summer temperatures.

By Tuesday afternoon, at least 86 Chinese cities in eastern and southern parts of the country had issued heat alerts. Chinese meteorologists forecast temperatures in some cities would top 40C (104F) in the next 24 hours.

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Cyclone numbers have fallen since start of 20th century, study suggests

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Scientists warn that while total number of cyclones may be decreasing, global heating will see a higher proportion of more damaging storms

Global heating has coincided with fewer tropical cyclones forming each year around the globe compared with the second half of the 19th century, according to a new study.

The average annual number of cyclones fell by 13% across the 20th century, with steeper declines seen after 1950.

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‘Like a scene from Titanic’: floods in Assam submerge entire villages

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India’s monsoon season has been worse than usual, sweeping away possessions and leaving people huddling on raised ground

People living in Assam, in north-east India, are usually stoical about the flooding that occurs to a greater or lesser extent every monsoon season. But this year they say the situation is dramatically worse. “It was like a scene from Titanic,” one man told local media of the rising waters that have flooded all but two of the state’s districts.

In some places entire villages are under water, while across the state 114,000 hectares of crops have been submerged and 5,000 livestock have been washed away. For those that remain, fodder is running out.

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Weather tracker: easing of Europe heatwave may be only temporary reprieve

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Forecast models are already hinting at area of significant heat taking hold across Iberia next week

Thankfully, the heatwave is coming to an end this week across western Europe, with temperatures returning nearer to normal. But this may only be a temporary reprieve, as forecast models are already hinting at an area of significant heat taking hold across Iberia by the start of next week.

The extent of the recent heatwave across parts of central and western Europe has been widely reported. Temperature records have been broken and, in France and parts of Spain, it is the earliest point in summer during which a heatwave of this magnitude has been recorded. A temperature of 39.2C (102.6F) observed in Cottbus, Germany, also came within 0.4°C of the June record. Large fires, resulting from parched vegetation, are ravaging parts of Spain. The observed heat is very much in line with the predictions of scientists in that heatwaves in Europe will occur earlier and with greater ferocity due to climate change.

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Spain battles wildfires fuelled by one of earliest heatwaves on record

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One blaze has burned 25,000 hectares of Sierra de la Culebra, home to one of Europe’s largest wolf populations

Flames licked roads and coloured the sky orange as firefighters in northern Spain scrambled to contain dozens of blazes fuelled by one of the earliest heatwaves on record.

In the Sierra de la Culebra mountain range in the north-western province of Zamora, flames devoured more than 25,000 hectares, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents from 18 municipalities.

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