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One street sweeper died of heat stroke at work, others have been caught in the forest fires or drowned in search of coolness.
The extreme heat that is sweeping through Europe has claimed hundreds of lives.
In record-breaking Britain, runways have melted, operations have been canceled and trains are running at a snail’s pace.
The heat wave has swept through Spain and Italy, further through France and on Monday meant record high temperatures in the UK.
In southwestern France, meteorologists warn of a “heat apocalypse” with temperatures up to 44 degrees and large amounts of fires raging in the extreme heat.
While the effects of the heat wave continue to plague the countries of southern Europe, the hot air is expected to continue north and strike Germany and Belgium.
Hundreds dead
In the middle of the week, it reaches Sweden and then it can be upwards of 35 degrees in some places, Foreca states.
In Spain alone, more than 500 people are believed to have died as a result of the heat wave last week, according to the country’s public health institute. Most of these are elderly with severe diseases where the heat is seen as an indirect cause of death.
But for others, the extreme heat was downright deadly. Two men died this weekend from heatstroke in Spain. One of these is a 60-year-old street sweeper in Madrid who collapsed at work.
Two people, including a firefighter, have died in the forest fires raging in Zamora province.
The disaster could have been even worse. On Monday morning, a train between Madrid and Galicia was temporarily stopped in the province when it ended up in the middle of the forest fires.
Filmed fires from the train
The passengers filmed while flames flared up from trees on both sides of the carriages.
The train could continue after a few minutes and according to the state train company Renfe, the passengers were never in danger.
In the UK, authorities have warned against swimming in unknown waters after several drownings have been reported since temperatures began to rise.
The heat has created chaos in the country, where you are not used to heat of this kind.
Luton Airport had to temporarily stop all flights after parts of the runways melted in the sun. At the same time, the trains run at low speeds so as not to risk derailing.
A number of operations have also been canceled in hospitals around the country because the operating rooms were simply too hot.
Emergency manufactures ice cream
To cool down patients and employees, hospital kitchens have started making ice creams, writes The Guardian.
Doctors and nurses have also been allowed to be more lightly dressed than usual.
On Tuesday it can get even hotter. The forecasts from The Met Office show temperatures between 40 and, in the worst case, 43 degrees.
Even in France, people continue to be plagued by heat and fires in the heat.
More than 25,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes or holiday homes in the Gironde department in the south-west of the country.
– It never ends. In 30 years as a firefighter, I have never seen a fire like this, says David Brunner, one of 1,400 firefighters fighting the flames in Gironde, to The Guardian.
44 degrees in the fire area
A nine-kilometer-long and just over three-kilometer-wide area still burned on Monday in an area where the temperature was expected to reach 44 degrees.
In Sweden, the heat wave will be short-lived this time. In the southern parts of the country, it can be between 30-35 degrees on Wednesday before it starts to cool down already on Thursday.
The situation in Sweden will thus not be as acute as elsewhere in Europe.
– This heat wave will not be so long in Sweden, so the risk is lower. But when it suddenly gets this hot, it can affect people in risk groups. It could be some difficult days for them, said Anna Latvala, meteorologist at Foreca, to Aftonbladet on Monday afternoon.
She also advises young and healthy people from playing sports in the heat.
– This kind of heat affects everyone. When it is at its hottest, it pays to try to find a place to cool off.