We are hopefully nearing the end. But right now (early summer 2025) we are still experiencing a heatwave. 🥵 The daily average temperature has been around 10°C higher than usual here.
🌡️Today, we are looking at a peak of 37°C. Temperatures are finally set to dip in a couple of days – probably accompanied by thunderstorms.
☀️What is a heatwave?
A heatwave is an extreme weather event where temperatures are higher than expected for that time of the year for three consecutive days or more. But it can last weeks to even a couple of months! A heatwave can also be accompanied by humidity (which is the case where I am!) and night temperatures stay high.
🌚High night temperatures are a problem because it means that the next day the temperatures will go up early and quickly. I can vouch for this – at 8am today it was already 32°C. Plus, the body doesn’t recover well.
✏️Heatwaves happen when hot air (high pressure) goes down. When the air goes down there are less clouds and less winds = a stable weather pattern. This is why heatwaves hang around.
❗Heatwaves & climate change
As the greenhouse effect is artificially increased with the gases that we are pumping into it, the global temperature rises. A higher average temperature will make heatwaves more frequent, intense and last for longer. The last couple of weeks have been a hot sneak peek!
🔥Heatwave risks
-Fires
-Drought
-Air pollution
-Flash floods – this happens when the heatwave finally collapses by cooler air from another direction
💧Heatwave impacts
-Water shortage – but increased water demand = adds further to the shortage!
-Increased energy needs e.g. fridge/freezer, air conditioning, fans
-Human & animal health impacted
-Nature & biodiversity impacted
-Crops severely impacted and farmers are less productive
📝Heatwave reports
-A report from Imperial College London says that the western Europe heatwave in June has caused an estimated 1500 heat-related deaths due to climate change
-The heatwave has been 4°C hotter than expected
–Copernicus calculated that the whole of the month of June has been 2.8°C hotter than average compared to 1991-2020
-An above average number of heat-stress days (more than 38°C) have been recorded in Portugal, Spain, Italy & France
-Reduced oxygen in the Mediterranean due to extremely high water temperatures (which also meant that air temperatures at night stayed high)
🙌What can you do to stay hydrated when it’s hot – but watch the water use?
-You’re in luck. I published a post on this (with my top 10 tips in the carousel):
Other sources: Met Office, Severe Weather Europe, WMO, Copernicus, Imperial College London, BBC
…And if you want to read more about what I do in the climate space, then please do check out my services.