Records tumble as European heatwave moves east

PARIS

Tens of millions are braving a weekend of extreme temperatures in Europe as a deadly heatwave moves eastwards, with some countries announcing rising death tolls and health services warning of saturation.

While some mild relief is expected Sunday in western Europe, German forecasters are warning that more temperature records could still be broken over the weekend as eastern countries issue a slew of red alerts for the coming days.

AFP analysis suggested almost 200 million people faced temperatures of more than 35C on Saturday as an unprecedented hot spell that has already seen records tumble in Britain, France, Switzerland drags on.

France is seeing "a higher than normal number of deaths" due to the heatwave baking the country, Health Minister Stephanie Rist said Saturday.

"We're seeing indicators that mortality will very likely be higher than at the same time last year," Rist told La Tribune newspaper.

Spain had already said Thursday that the heatwave could be linked to 212 deaths over a four-day period.

Paris' hospitals said that visits to emergency rooms were 36 percent higher than normal on both Friday and Saturday, while Vienna said its emergency services were 15 percent busier and that they had put on extra staff.

Street parties and music festivals were cancelled in France, Germany and the Netherlands -- though a Pride March went ahead in Budapest despite the extreme heat warnings.

The German Weather Service (DWD) issued a red alert for most of the country on Saturday, and said late afternoon that it had recorded its highest ever temperature with 41.5C recorded in eastern Germany.

"It can't be ruled out that temperatures could approach 42C," the service said, which would mean another all-time heat record just a day after the previous one.

Denmark's weather service said early afternoon Saturday that the country had recorded its highest temperature ever, and then an hour later said the record had lasted just an hour, with the mercury hitting 37C in two places near Aarhus.

The Czech Republic also recorded its highest-ever temperature, with a reading of 40.8C just north of Prague, but the country's weather service said the heat would peak on Sunday with temperatures expected to get close or even exceed 41C.

Switzerland broke the record for its hottest-ever June day for the third day in a row on Saturday, with the mercury rising to 39C in the northern city of Basel.

But in France, the number of departments under the highest red alert will fall to 24 Sunday morning from 37 on Sunday. The Paris region, for instance, will be downgraded from red to orange alert for Sunday.

On Wednesday, a record 72 of France's 96 mainland departments were under a red alert.

Thunderstorms

But the cooler weather was accompanied by thunderstorms, and over 800 flights out of London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports were delayed and scores more cancelled on Saturday, according to tracker FlightAware.

Parks in Paris were closed late Saturday and a rock festival was canceled in Bordeaux Saturday night. Paris police also banned a street protest and a festival planned for Sunday.

Police in Brussels also evacuated a music festival.

Scientists have shown that recurring heatwaves are a clear marker of global warming driven by humans burning fossil fuels -- and are set to become more frequent, longer and more intense.

Experts said a "heat dome" of trapped air from north Africa was causing the intense weather, and although the phenomenon was not unprecedented, the temperatures were.

Romania was the latest country to issue a red alert, putting out a warning that almost the entire country would face extreme heat from Monday to Wednesday.

Slovakia had issued a similar warning.

Denis Ovdyienko, a courier, told AFP in Bratislava on Friday he was struggling to keep cool and had to rely on public fountains.

"I feel like everything is warm. The road is warm, my phone is warm, my head is warm, everything is hot," said the 26-year-old.

"After four o'clock, the fatigue starts to kick in."

No need for jackets

The Czech Republic, Hungary and Moldova were also on the highest alert for the weekend, with Balkan countries also bracing for a tough few days.

Slovak officials said that between Friday and Saturday six people had drowned in lakes and swimming pools just in the Bratislava region alone.

In France, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told a French newspaper that 74 people have drowned in the country since June 18, mostly after jumping into "unauthorised, unsupervised bodies of water such as rivers, lakes and ponds".

Although a slew of events were cancelled, such as the Hamburg half-marathon, many in Germany were soldiering on.

The Berlin Philharmonic said it would continue with its traditional end-of-season outdoor concert in Berlin, but men would not need to wear jackets and ladies' tops did not necessarily have to be long-sleeved.