What happens when it breaks 100 degrees in Europe |
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What happens when it breaks 100 degrees in Europe
It’s so hot that France is restricting alcohol.
This story originally appeared in The Guardian and is republished here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
Two children, aged 4 and 2, have been found dead in their family’s car in south eastern France, the local prosecutor said, as a large swathe of western Europe suffers a ferocious heatwave forecast to shatter absolute temperature records.
“The causes of death are yet to be determined, but the heat is the leading line of inquiry,” said Hélène Mourges, the prosecutor in the town of Carpentras, where the temperature was expected to exceed 39°C (102.2°F) on Monday afternoon.
What to do (and avoid) in extreme heat
The deaths follow those of three elderly people, aged between 80 and 95, who died near Bordeaux over the weekend as a result of health problems caused by the extreme temperatures, an official said. Thirteen more drowned in swimming accidents.
French authorities on Monday placed half the country — 49 of the country’s 96 mainland departments — on a level 1 danger-to-life warning, urging 35 million people to exercise “absolute vigilance,” avoid strenuous exertion, and stay out of........