Europe’s ‘exceptional’ heat wave closes schools, prompts health alerts

Europe is heating up at twice the global average speed and is the world's fastest-warming continent, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service has said.

Italy limited work outdoors, France shut schools and Turkey battled wildfires on Tuesday in a European heat wave that meteorologists said was “exceptional” for striking so early this year.

Spain confirmed its hottest June on record, while temperatures passed 40 C (104°F) in some of its cities on Tuesday. Likewise, heat scaled to reach 40 C in the Italian city of Trento, while northern European cities such as London were also sweltering.

Europe is heating up at twice the global average speed and is the world’s fastest-warming continent, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service has said.

“What is exceptional … but not unprecedented is the time of year,” said World Meteorological Organization spokesperson Clare Nullis.

Europe was experiencing extreme heat episodes “which normally we would see later on in the summer,” she said.

Some countries issued health alerts and trade unions attributed the death of a construction worker near the Italian city of Bologna on Monday to the heat.

Outdoor work was banned in some Italian regions during the hottest hours of the day as Italy issued heat wave red alerts for 17 cities, including Milan and Rome.

Power outages, likely caused or aggravated by spiking electricity consumption from air conditioners, were reported in central Florence and in the northern city of Bergamo. In Sicily, a woman with a heart condition died while walking in the city of Bagheria, news agencies reported.