Extreme heat brings 'life or death' scenarios to citizens across Europe

The World Meteorological Organisation has said Europe is warming at more than twice the global average making such prolonged heat episodes increasingly likely. File picture: Ed Jones/AFP/Getty 

Thousands of the most vulnerable across Europe are facing into "life or death" scenarios due to the extreme heat which has gripped the continent, and is to worsen in the days to come.

Cities across Europe have been forced to close schools, curtail public transport, and close tourist sites as temperatures reached or soared past 40C.

“The coming days pose serious health risks,” International Federation of the Red Cross senior climate policy officer Mary Friel told journalists in Geneva. 

“For thousands of people across Europe, extreme temperatures, without action, can quickly become a matter of life and death.”

Here in Ireland, Met Éireann has confirmed that the temperature will rise to 30C on Thursday and could creep even higher, possibly surpassing the record of 33.3C set in 1887. 

It has already issued a status yellow high temperature warning for the whole of Ireland until 9am on Friday, though at this stage it is still predicting temperatures could reach 29C on that day.

France confirmed there have been 40 drowning deaths there since last week as people desperately seek to escape the extreme heat. Across its border, temperatures of up to 40C in the shade were forecast in parts of the Basque country.

Italy and Switzerland were also sweltering with record temperatures in some areas.

UN secretary general, António Guterres, at an event in London where temperatures are expected to hit 39C on Thursday, said: “Crisis brings clarity and here in London, the city of Dickens, it is clear that our world is facing a ‘tale of two crises’.

"A climate crisis is pushing us deeper towards higher temperatures and closer to catastrophic tipping points and an energy crisis is exposing the folly of a world hooked on hydrocarbons," he said.

On the surface, these crises may seem separate, but they share the same destructive origin: fossil fuels. 

“London isn’t just calling. It’s cooking.”

The World Meteorological Organisation has said Europe is warming at more than twice the global average making such prolonged heat episodes increasingly likely.

The heatwave is being driven by a weather pattern known as an Omega block, because it takes the shape of the Greek letter Ω, with a bulge of hot air trapped between cooler systems, allowing temperatures to build day after day. Heatwaves and storms are being intensified by climate change.

Skin cancer

As Europe braces itself for more and more extreme heat in years to come, a leading Cork-based oncologist has warned of the dangers of advanced skin cancer which, she said, kills about half of those affected within six months.

Anna Olsson‑Brown, the new professor of clinical trials at Cork University Hospital and University College Cork, said people must become more aware of the risks of not wearing suncream or using sunbeds.

She said experts are now recommending that everyone wears sunscreen even if they are just going about their normal daily business.

She also said the public must also become more vigilant about having moles checked out.

“About 50% of people who get metastatic melanoma still go on to die of their melanoma so it is still a disease we want to prevent rather than try and treat,” she said.

She did say advances in care have seen many patients benefit.

“If we think about 10 years ago the average prognosis for someone with metastatic melanoma, when it had been inside of them and spread from the skin, was about six months from diagnosis to death,” she said.

“Now with the treatments we have, the immunotherapies, about 50% of people are living to 10 years and beyond. So it’s very much improved.

“But that means the other 50% aren’t having that benefit. We’re still seeing those patients dying of their cancer at some point.”

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