(Bloomberg) -- Heat and wildfires are searing the Mediterranean, while a low-level flood alert was issued before this evening’s opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics.
Temperatures in Spain are again set to breach 40C (104F) in the interior on Friday, after the country’s high for this year of 45.6C was recorded in Huelva on Wednesday.
Climate change is increasing the intensity and frequency of heat waves, but parts of northwest Europe including Paris and London have been spared extreme temperatures so far this summer. Monday witnessed the highest average temperature on Earth, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.
“Earth is becoming hotter and more dangerous for everyone, everywhere,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday. “Billions of people are facing an extreme heat epidemic — wilting under increasingly deadly heat waves.”
The rain forecast for Paris this evening brings a low risk of flooding to the capital, according to Meteo France, as thousands of athletes join a procession along the River Seine. Cloud and showers will give way to sunshine by Sunday, with the French capital climbing to as high as 34C early next week.
As the heat builds across France in the coming days, the risk of wildfires will rise, according to Copernicus. Wildfires have increased dramatically this year, with levels 67% above the historical averages.
Electricite de France SA said on Thursday that it may have to curb output from July 31 as the heat wave warms the Garonne river used for cooling a nuclear power station in southwest of France.
London and a number of other UK regions are subject to a yellow heat alert for Monday through Wednesday, with elevated health risks for over 65s and more vulnerable groups.
Cooler temperatures are forecast for Greece for the next two days, before the heat climbs back toward 40C by Sunday.
Fire risks are being compounded by the summer Meltemi wind that blows from the north, putting southern Aegean islands on very high fire alert. Greece’s biggest three cities — Athens, Thessaloniki and Patras — are also on high alert.
Police halted traffic on roads near the village of Neos Kouvaras, 27 kilometers southeast of Athens, and told residents to be ready to evacuate, before a fire was brought under partial control.
Firefighters have also partly contained a blaze in northwest Greece, after residents of Raxes and Vlaxika were told to evacuate to the nearby town of Preveza.
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