The municipality’s Rio Alert system recorded 44 levels Celsius (111 levels Fahrenheit) within the west of the town—the very best temperature on document since 2014.
The earlier document was 43.8 in November 2023—the day after a Taylor Swift fan died from warmth exhaustion throughout her live performance within the metropolis.
“We predict the most well liked summer season lately,” Rio’s well being secretary Daniel Soranz advised AFP on Monday.
“In January, greater than 3,000 folks have been handled in municipal emergency providers as a result of intense warmth,” notably for sunburns and dehydration, Soranz mentioned, including this was greater than double the numbers seen lately.
A scorching weekend in Rio noticed residents crowd seashores whereas a number one samba college canceled its parade rehearsal on Copacabana seashore.
In the meantime, a few of the world’s prime tennis stars will face the warmth on and off the court docket this week on the Rio Open.
Town mentioned it had reached a stage 4 warmth alert—with 5 being the utmost.
In response, it has opened up dozens of cooling and hydration factors.
In Copacabana, wilting doorman Robson Oliveira stopped to take an image of an digital show exhibiting the temperature at 39C.
“This warmth is insufferable,” he advised AFP.
“I am not used to it. It is about time for a bit rain to chill off.”
Additionally learn: Climate change threatens to expand area of world too hot for humans
No canceling Carnival
Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes mentioned Sunday that the town wouldn’t cancel occasions attributable to excessive temperatures throughout Carnival, which attracts thousands and thousands of vacationers and is a significant earner for the town.
“However it’s apparent that we will name the eye of (Carnival) revelers to say: ‘Hey, drink extra water, hydrate your self higher, take sure precautions,'” he mentioned.
“Nobody goes to droop any exercise within the metropolis, even in an excessive occasion.”
Raquel Franco, chief meteorologist of the Rio Alert System, mentioned the earlier warmth document for February within the metropolis was 41.8C, recorded in February 2023.
With no rain on the horizon, “we might have one of many driest Februarys in historical past,” Franco mentioned.
It was even more durable to search out respite from the warmth within the metropolis’s favelas—treeless city warmth islands of brick and concrete that always undergo the worst of heatwaves.
Within the Bateau Mouche favela in western Rio, residents doused themselves in water to chill down on Sunday, and an AFP reporter noticed an aged man faint attributable to excessive temperatures.
The state of Sao Paulo (southeast) was additionally underneath alert as a result of first warmth wave of the 12 months, with temperatures round 38 levels Celsius.
In recent times, Brazil has been laborious hit by excessive climate occasions, from floods to droughts and fires, which consultants hyperlink to international warming.
A boy cools off with a hose on the road amid a warmth wave within the Guaratiba neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on February 17, 2025. Rio de Janeiro residents and vacationers have been baking Monday in scorching temperatures as the town’s crowded pre-Carnival road events swung into full gear.
