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Heat in Europe: It's getting hot. Very hot.

2022-06-13T14:56:21.548Z


In Germany it should be up to 36 degrees warm at the weekend. Spain is already struggling with a heat wave. And: France calls for water saving.


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Heatwave in Spain: A woman stands in the shade of a tree in Madrid

Photo: SUSANA VERA / REUTERS

Summer heat is returning to Germany this week.

According to the German Weather Service (DWD), it's getting hotter every day.

On the night of Sunday, the first warm night of this year is expected with temperatures above 20 degrees.

On Saturday it should be up to 36 degrees in some places.

Sunshine and heat of up to 28 degrees will ensure outdoor pool weather in the southwest as early as Tuesday, while in the north the temperatures will still be a moderate 20 degrees with changing clouds and a few showers.

A day later it will be sunny there too.

Temperatures skyrocket up to 25 degrees.

In the rest of the republic, the 30-degree mark can be cracked on Wednesday, with the Upper Rhine being the warmest.

In the afternoon there can be thunderstorms in the Alps, and showers and thunderstorms are also possible on Thursday from the edge of the Alps to the Bavarian Forest.

According to the DWD forecast, however, it will not remain tropical for long in this country.

Meteorologist Sebastian Schappert said that one cannot speak of a classic heat wave for the time being.

Up to 43 degrees in Andalusia

It's different in Spain: A heat wave that is unusual for the time of year makes people sweat and struggle to breathe.

Temperatures of 40 degrees are expected in many places, a spokesman for the national weather service Aemet said on Monday.

In Andalusia you can expect up to 43 degrees.

The extreme temperatures are expected to continue throughout the week.

"This extreme heat, at this moment in spring, is not normal," analyzed Aemet spokesman Ruben del Campo.

It is clearly due to global warming.

In May, the monthly mean temperatures in Spain were the highest for more than a hundred years.

40 degrees, too little rain: the French should save water

There is also alarm in France: Shortly before the start of another heat wave, several water suppliers called for water saving.

"In order not to get into a difficult situation, we have to prepare ourselves," says an appeal published on Monday by the Association of Water Companies.

Temperatures of up to 40 degrees are expected in France between Tuesday and Saturday.

The water companies are appealing to the state to modernize the supply, for example by better detecting leaks in pipes and by seasonal tariffs.

"Natural solutions" are also needed, such as better protection of wetlands and the fight against soil sealing.

Technological solutions should also be considered, such as the replenishment of groundwater reservoirs and the secondary use of slightly polluted water.

Restrictions already apply in a good third of France's 101 departments.

Depending on the warning level, the watering of gardens and fields is rationed;

Cars can no longer be washed and private pools can no longer be filled.

AKW should be withdrawn

The energy company EDF has meanwhile announced that it will throttle the Saint-Alban nuclear power plant on the Rhone again because of the low water level in the river.

Production there had already been temporarily reduced from 1,300 megawatts to 260 megawatts at the beginning of June.

In order to protect the biodiversity in the river, the removal and return of the cooling water is strictly regulated.

In the past, French nuclear power plants had to be throttled during hot spells, but this usually happens in midsummer.

At the beginning of May, the Blayais nuclear power plant on the Garonne River was also shut down due to low water levels.

The month of May was the hottest in France since weather records began, with an average temperature of 17.8 degrees.

The highest temperatures were reached in Ajaccio on Corsica with 36.2 degrees and in Albi near Toulouse with 35.4 degrees.

Almost all over the country, the soil dried out more than it normally does until mid-July.

In the past three months, it has rained about 45 percent less than usual.

ala/dpa/AFP

Source: spiegel

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