A deadly ‘heat apocalypse’ is gripping Europe. Look at some of the scorching scenes

Deaths are mounting as an unprecedented heat wave is wreaking havoc across Europe, setting record temperatures, melting runways in the UK, and igniting wildfires in France, Spain, and Portugal.

Experts have attributed Europe’s heat wave to human-induced and human-intensified climate change. The heat wave — which peaked Tuesday July 19 — will keep temperatures abnormally high across western and northern Europe until next week, the World Meteorological Organization said in a news conference streamed by Reuters on Tuesday.

There have been more than 1,100 heat-related deaths in Spain and Portugal, according to MSN.

At London’s Heathrow Airport, Tuesday’s high so far of 104 degrees is the hottest temperature ever recorded in Britain, according to UPI. In Paris, temperatures were expected to reach 110 degrees.

While air conditioning and such high temperatures are more common in the United States — it’s expected to reach 111 in Fort Worth, Texas on Tuesday — most people in Europe don’t have air conditioners in their homes.

Out-of-control wildfires in southwest France reach the beach

Major wildfires ignited in southern France on July 12, but even with more than 2,000 firefighters working 24/7, the blazes remain out of control, The Guardian reported. Two more wildfires have begun since the initial spark.

Meteorologists in the area warned of a “heat apocalypse,” The Guardian reported.

More than 37,000 people — locals and tourists — have been evacuated since the fires began. Of those, 16,000 were evacuated on Monday, ABC News reported. Local authorities said Monday’s evacuations included a retirement home, a zoo, campsites, and beach areas.

France’s current wildfires have burned over 50 square miles — the country’s largest in over 30 years, The Guardian and Reuters reported.

Deadly heat in Portugal and Spain

The extreme temperatures have been deadly in Portugal and Spain.

Between July 7-17, the overall death toll in the Portugal has soared to more than 650, Portugal’s Health Ministry reports, according to Reuters.

Temperatures in Portugal hit 116 last week as the country finally got its wildfires under control, The Guardian reported. The fires destroyed about 55 square miles, in a country with a total area of 35,600 square miles.

Residents in affected areas used garden houses to fight the fires and protect their houses, photos for The Associated Press showed.

In Spain, where temperatures have reached 114 degrees, The Guardian reportsabout 510 people suffered heat-related deaths from July 10-16.

More than a dozen wildfires have broken out across the country, The Guardian reported.

The fires began in southern Spain, near Malaga, on Friday, Deutsche Welle reported. About 3,000 people were evacuated before the place was stabilized enough for locals to return home.

Francisco Seoane Pérez, a lecturer, tweeted a video Monday of fires burning outside his train window while on a train running from central Madrid to northern Ferrol. “Moments of panic on the Madrid-Ferrol train near Zamora-Sanabria, 9.30am,” he wrote. “The train carried on after stopping for a few minutes.”

The rail company, Renfe, suspended all trains in the area shortly after until further notice, NDTV reported, citing a tweet from the company.

Record heat in the UK disrupts daily life

With Tuesday’s record-setting temperatures in London, infrastructure buckled under the heat. Passengers arriving into Luton airport from Italy were diverted because the runway had “bits of tarmac melting,” The Guardian reported.

At least two runways showed heat damage, Reuters reported, while “some train tracks buckled.”

While air temperatures hit 104, infrastructure equipment and steel rails be even 68 degrees hotter, a Network Rail spokesperson told The Guardian. “Breakdowns are inevitable,” the spokesperson said.

The UK Transport Minister, Grant Shapps, told BBC that, “We’ve seen a considerable amount of travel disruption. Infrastructure, much of which was built from the Victorian times, just wasn’t built to withstand this type of temperature.”

At major tourist attractions, people sought relief from the heat by covering their heads or dipping their hair into Trafalgar square’s fountain, photos from The Associated Press showed.

According to the Met Office, “Every noteworthy heatwave event that has occurred in Europe and the UK over the last 20 years has been made more likely and more intense as a result of #ClimateChange.”

Heat wave will continue next week

The prevelant question across Europe is “when is this going to end?” said Robert Stefanski, chief of Applied Climate Services at the World Meteorological Organization during the news conference. For the current heat wave, “possibly not until middle of next week,” said Stafanski.

Tuesday’s fire danger forecast from the European Commission Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space showed “Very Extreme Danger,” the highest level of fire risk, for much of western Europe.

Ast the heat wave moves north and west, parts of Germany and Belgium are preparing to be hit with extreme temperatures, Reuters reported.

Looking forward, the WMO’s Secretary-General Petteri Taalas warned that, “The direction is clear and in the future these kind of heat waves are going to be normal and we will see even stronger extremes.”

“Extreme heat events do occur within natural climate variation due to changes in global weather patterns. However, the increase in the frequency, duration, and intensity of these events over recent decades is clearly linked to the observed warming of the planet and can be attributed to human activity,” the WMO said in a statement.

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