Geneva: In the southern Spanish town of El Granado, thermometers recorded 46°C three days ago, a June record confirmed by the national weather service, leaving residents struggling under relentless heat. In Barcelona, a road sweeper collapsed and died after her shift on Saturday, prompting an investigation and urgent public calls to seek shade and water.
Across Europe and much of the northern hemisphere, an early-summer heatwave has unleashed life-threatening temperatures, signalling future climate challenges, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
Clare Nullis, spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization, declared that everybody is at risk, warning that going out without water in the middle of the day to jog or bike could lead to health problems or even death. She attributed the extreme conditions to human-induced climate change, driven by burning fossil fuels, worsened by a high-pressure weather front trapping hot air from northern Africa.
In the Mediterranean, sea surface temperatures have climbed to levels typically seen later in the year, mirroring a land heatwave, Nullis explained. She noted that extreme heat creeps up, becoming more frequent and intense due to global warming. Night-time minimums and daytime maximums broke June records in parts of Western and Southwestern Europe, leaving people exhausted as heat persists without relief.
Nullis stated that the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events is increasing in Europe, projecting that by 2050, half the European population may face a high or very high risk of heat stress during summer. She emphasised that what is exceptional, though not unprecedented, is the timing, as such intense heat usually occurs later in the year.
The World Meteorological Organization stresses that early warnings from national meteorological and hydrological services, combined with coordinated heat-health action plans, are essential to saving lives. Nullis highlighted that heat-related deaths are often under-reflected in official statistics, obscuring the true impact of such events. The organisation’s Early Warnings for All platform drives these efforts, with the WMO Coordination Mechanism (WCM) providing critical support in crisis-prone and conflict-affected regions.
The WMO Coordination Mechanism delivers authoritative weather, climate, and water information, including through the Global Hydromet Weekly Scan, developed in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and contributions from the African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD), Indonesia’s Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency (BMKG), German Meteorological Service (DWD), GeoSphere Austria, and the Federal Office for Meteorology and Climatology, MeteoSwiss. This scan raises awareness of hydrometeorological events affecting internally displaced persons and refugees worldwide, ensuring vulnerable populations receive timely alerts.
As the northern hemisphere confronts this early heatwave, from Spain’s sun-scorched towns to Europe’s overheated cities, the World Meteorological Organization’s push for robust early-warning systems gains urgency.
Nullis stressed that extreme heat is something we have to learn to live with, urging communities to heed weather alerts to prevent tragedies like the one in Barcelona. With climate change intensifying these events, the organisation’s initiatives provide a lifeline, equipping people to navigate a warming world where timely information can mean the difference between survival and loss.
– global bihari bureau
