Spain, France swelter in unseasonable heat

French officials warned on Thursday that the country would be hit in the coming days by the earliest heat wave experienced in France since at least 2005, as neighboring Spain fights several forest fires already caused by the unseasonable hot spell.

Both countries this year already recorded their hottest May on record, worsening a drought caused by poor rainfall over the winter and spring.

The Meteo France weather service said most of France would be hit by high temperatures by Saturday, with 35 degrees Celsius (100.4 Fahrenheit) expected to be possibly reached in the capital, Paris, before a storm cools things down again on Sunday.

Spain's Aemet weather service has forecast temperatures as high as 43 C, with no relief expected before Sunday.

Forest fires

Spanish firefighters have been struggling to contain several three blazes in Catalonia amid the sweltering temperatures.

One fire near Baldomar, around 140 kilometers (87 miles) northeast of the regional capital, Barcelona, has already burned 500 hectares (1,236 acres), but could grow to 20,000 hectares before it is brought under control, the regional government said.

In France, more than 100 firefighters were deployed on Wednesday to tackle a forest fire in the southern Lozere region. The local prefecture said the blaze over 70 hectares had been contained overnight but that there was a high danger of it reigniting.

Authorities have also warned of increased wildfire risks in forests surrounding Paris.

Health, economy, animal life in danger

Experts say the more frequent and intense heat waves currently occurring as a result of partly human-made global warming are having a devastating effect on human health, animals and the economy.

Nearly 10% of the 2 million deaths attributed to extreme weather events from 1970 to 2019 were caused by very high temperatures, with most of those deaths occurring since 2000, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

In Europe, extreme spells of hot weather caused about 90% of weather-related mortality between 1980 and 2022, the European Environment Agency (EEA) has reported.

According to the national public health agency in France, heat waves in the country from 2015 to 2020 cost €22 billion to €37 billion ($23-38.5 billion) in health expenses, costs incurred by the loss of well-being and "intangible costs stemming from premature deaths." 

Young birds in Spain are also in trouble in what is the country's earliest heat wave in more than 40 years, which coincides with the hatching season.

"Birds are suffering especially in this very early heat wave in June that we are having in Spain," David Howell, climate and energy adviser at the SEO Birdlife NGO told Reuters news agency. "They suffer especially from heat stress and thirst and even in some cases they have to leave the nest to try to find cooler temperatures. For that reason during this period many chicks and nesting fledglings are [found] on the ground, just because they are trying to escape the excess heat."

tj/msh (AFP, Reuters)