Key occasions
The ‘silent killer’: what it’s essential to find out about heatwaves
Ajit Niranjan
Heatwaves have grown hotter and stronger because the planet has warmed, making what medical doctors name a “silent killer” much more harmful.
How nervous ought to we be about warmth – and how can we keep secure because the local weather modifications?
Sizzling climate kills an estimated half a million people every year. The common annual demise toll is bigger than that from wars or terrorism, however smaller than that from vehicles or air air pollution.
Excessive warmth stresses the human physique. When days are too sizzling to operate and nights usually are not cool sufficient to get well, the center and kidneys go into overdrive working to maintain the physique cool.
There are additionally secondary well being results from excessive warmth. Heatwaves result in extra accidents, dirtier air, greater wildfires and extra frequent blackouts, all of which might improve the burden on well being methods.
People who find themselves pressured to be outside in scorching climate – builders, farmers, tough sleepers – are most probably to endure from warmth exhaustion and the heatstroke that may observe.
However older individuals, and notably these with underlying diseases, make up the majority of heat-related deaths. Ladies usually tend to die from heat-related causes than males. Poorer individuals – who’re much less more likely to have air con, well-insulated houses, or entry to inexperienced areas – are additionally at higher danger.
The only recommendation is to keep out of the warmth: keep away from going outdoors throughout the hottest elements of the day, and keep within the shade if you must. To maintain your house cool, shut home windows throughout the day and open them after darkish, when outside temperatures fall beneath inside temperatures. Cowl home windows with blinds or curtains to dam out direct daylight.
Medical doctors additionally advocate consuming water ceaselessly, carrying free clothes and checking on susceptible individuals in your group.
European heatwave – in footage
Morning opening: It is sizzling on the market
Jakub Krupa
Massive elements of Europe proceed to be gripped by a heatwave in the present day, with temperatures in mid to excessive 30s and low 40s Celsius and a variety of well being and environmental alerts issued throughout the continent, notably its southern half.
France, Italy, Portugal and Spain, particularly, have seen excessive weathers over the weekend and they’re more likely to proceed in the present day.
Simply take a fast have a look at the climate forecast: Rome, Madrid and Bologna (36C), Athens and Naples (35C), Lisbon (34C), Zagreb (33C), Paris (32C), London (31C).
There are pockets the place the temperatures are even going to hit low 40s, resembling within the Extremadura area of Spain.
In Italy, 27 cities have been on high alert for extreme health on Sunday. In France, 84 of the nation’s 96 mainland departments are on the second-highest “orange” warmth alert, AFP reported.
“That is unprecedented,” Agner Pannier-Runacher, France’s ecology transition minister mentioned.
I’ll convey you all the most recent updates from throughout Europe right here.
It’s Monday, 30 June 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa right here, and that is Europe Reside.
Good morning.
