Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1473976
14 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 20 JULY 2022 EUROPE THE United Kingdom on Tues- day provisionally recorded its hottest-ever temperature read- ing, with the mercury rising to 40.2 o C (102.4 degrees Fahren- heit) in the southern town of Charlwood, according to the Met Office weather service. The record-breaking day fol- lows the UK's warmest-ever night, with temperatures in some regions remaining above 25 o C (77 Fahrenheit) from Mon- day to Tuesday, according to the Met Office. The UK's previous all-time re- cord high of 38.7 o C (101.7 Fahr- enheit) was set in 2019. In the morning, temperature in the UK reached 39.1 o C, which was expected to rise during the day. "Forty-one isn't off the cards,'' said Met Office CEO Penelope Endersby said in the morning. "We've even got some 43s in the model, but we're hoping it won't be as high as that.'' The Met Office will need to validate the equipment used to measure the temperature before it officially becomes a recorded high. On Monday, British officials is- sued the UK's first-ever extreme heat emergency, extending from London in the south to Man- chester and Leeds in the north. Train services were disrupted by buckled rails, and more travel disruption is expected on Tues- day. "We're probably going to see the hottest day ever in the UK recorded today," Transport Minister Grant Shapps told the BBC. "Infrastructure, much of which was built from the Vic- torian times, just wasn't built to withstand this type of tempera- ture." The mercury reached 38.1 Cel- sius on Monday in Suffolk, in eastern England, which was hot- test temperature recorded in the UK this year, and the third-hot- test day on record. Average July temperatures in the UK range from a highs of 21 o C to nighttime lows of 12 de- grees, and few homes or small businesses have air conditioning. Wildfires in France On the other side of English Channel, several towns and cities in France recorded their highest-ever temperatures on Monday. Saint-Brieuc, on the normally temperate coast of Brittany, topped 39.5 o C. The western city of Nantes recorded 42 o C, beating a decades-old high of 40.3 o C set in 1949. In southwestern France's Gi- ronde region, two large wild- fires raging for a week across dry pine forests have forced the evacuation of 32,000 people and destroyed over 19,000 hectares (46,000 acres) of forest. Fire of- ficials said strong winds and heat are fanning the flames, despite the deployment of waterbomb- ing aircraft. The blaze was literally "blowing things up" with its ferocity, said Marc Vermeulen, head of the local firefighting service, adding that exploding trees were scat- tering embers and spreading the blaze further. "We're facing ex- treme and exceptional circum- stances,'' he said. French weather channel La Chaine Meteo reported Tuesday that conditions in the affected regions are forecast to improve over the next 48 hours, with an eastern wind from the Atlan- tic bringing thunderstorms and cooler temperatures. This photo provided by the fire brigade of the Gironde region (SDIS 33) shows firefighters fighting wildfire near Landiras, southwestern France Europe heat wave: UK records hottest-ever Much of Western Europe continues to bake in extreme heat, with the UK recording its hottest-ever temperature and wildfires burning through forests in southern France, Spain and Portugal. Relief is expected later in the week