General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsYikes! The Sahara is on the move...WE'RE MELTING OVER HERE!!!
Exceptionally intense conditions prompt weather alerts in Spain, Portugal and France, with elderly people and children most at risk
Several European governments have issued weather warnings as a heatwave sweeping through Portugal, Spain and France pushes temperatures above 40C (104F), raising concerns for elderly people and children.
Paris, which has activated its national heatwave emergency plan, is particularly sensitive to the risks after a European-wide heatwave in 2003 led to nearly 20,000 deaths, killing thousands of isolated elderly people in France.
The French ecology minister, Ségolène Royal, has called on those in charge of air-conditioned public spaces, such as libraries, cinemas and shopping malls, to let in the public for respite from the heat. I dont think this heatwave will have the same consequences as the one in 2003 because we werent as prepared at that time, Royal said.
The high temperatures, brought on by a mass of hot air flowing north from Africa to Europe in recent days, are expected to last all week and extend further north to the UK and Belgium.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/30/heatwave-temperature-continent-40-spain-portugal-france
__________________
OK, OK, you hardy folk stateside think that 104°F in the shade is just par for the course.
But, Europeans are NOT used to this and in general aren't equipped to deal with it. Almost nobody has AC in their homes, because it's almost never needed.
The wonderous Gulf Stream usually protects us from the searing Saharan winds, but not right now.
We're stuck in the middle of a super high-pressure front which is keeping the Gulf Stream at bay, and allowing those scorching winds to migrate north.
mnhtnbb
(31,418 posts)We have --had exceptionally hot weather all June in NC--about 10 degrees higher than our average
high of mid-80's for June. There's been a high pressure ridge just stuck over the lower mid-Atlantic
states for weeks now.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)I think that your high pressure ridge has moved over here pushed by the prevailing westerlies.
Divernan
(15,480 posts)These are not usual meteorological phenomena, [they are] of an exceptional intensity and with a very high level of risk for the population, a spokesman for Spains national weather office said.
Madrid city hall was advising everyone to remain hydrated by drinking at least three litres of water per day and avoiding alcohol. Temperatures in the countryside around Córdoba in southern Spain were expected to rise to 44C (111F).
In the Andalusian capital of Seville, where temperatures reached 42C (108F), children and adults soaked their feet in city fountains while others jumped from bridges into the Guadalquivir river. Beaches across Spains southern coast were packed as the heatwave coincided with the start of the high season for tourism.
French authorities have set up a heatwave register in certain towns where isolated elderly people can be checked up on by a phonecall or home visit. Royal recommended that the most vulnerable older people and children wet their heads and hair and wrap themselves in cool, wet towels.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)That's my way of coping, plus a chemical cold-pack in my freezer.
AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)enlightenment
(8,830 posts)Soak a sheet in water and hang it in your window or doorway - whatever breeze you get will be cooled as it passes through the sheet.
If you can do that, try attaching a wet (not dripping) dishcloth to a fan - same effect. It's localized, but it does help.
In Southern Nevada in the 1920s and 30s, people would wet down their bed sheets before sleeping - it sounds clammy, but it apparently did help.
I wish you all luck. My son lives in London and he's cooking in his own juices.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)Thanks for the courage, and good luck to your son! It's really headed England's way today (July 1st.)
I know the dishcloth/fan trick, too. That's how I survived the last "GREAT HEAT" in 2003.
liberal N proud
(60,352 posts)We have had the coolest wettest June. Saw on the tv this am that it was the 3rd wettest month on record for Cleveland.
I tried to play golf last night, it was quite a mud-fest, if you didn't land in water, you were standing in it to swing your club.
The temp this week hasn't been above 70 and we had nearly 5 inches of rain on Saturday.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)see the map below...post # 37
snooper2
(30,151 posts)Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)Divernan
(15,480 posts)Spent Bastille Day with a Parisian family - Mom, doctor Dad,elderly grandfather and two kids (8 & 5). We drove out into the country for an excursion to the exquisite château d'Anet. It was a sunny day but the temps were only(only, to my way of thinking) in the high 70's.
However my French hosts found that amount of heat debilitating and were constantly stopping to make sure the kids were drinking plenty of water and no one was over-heated. Statistically, July & August are the warmest months in Paris, but the high temp is only 20 degrees C or 69 degrees F. So a 35 degree increase to the current predicted 104F is quite stressful physically and mentally.
On that Bastille Day, at the height of the heat, we stopped at a lovely country auberge for a leisurely 2 hour lunch - great food, great wine and great conversations. Vive la France & Paris, je t'aime!
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)Anything above 20 to 25°C and we begin to expire! LOL!
Further south, in the Midi, they're used to higher and drier temps.
That's for sure--a shock to the system.
VIVE LA BELLE ET DOUCE FRANCE !
The French countryside is a world treasure. I don't know the Château d'Anet. Will have to look it up.
But so is the heat from a blast furnace. LOL
Lifelong Protester
(8,421 posts)HOT!!! Not unhappy to leave tomorrow as I can't take the dust anymore.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)factor is high. Lots of allergy and asthma complaints.
Lifelong Protester
(8,421 posts)( a trip of a lifetime for me!) but it is so dusty in the Tuileries and the Louvre courtyard-I hate to keep "stealing" paper towels from public bathrooms to clean my shoes! sure wish I could get that yogurt in little jars back in the states!
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)There's an organic brand that's REALLY good.
Have a good trip back! And happy memories.
Lifelong Protester
(8,421 posts)I love the whole milk yogurt we've had here.
I am saving up a lot of good memories-and bringing home some macaroons!
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)uppityperson
(115,681 posts)I missed the bread even more. USA "french bread" is not anywhere near French daily bread. My grocery gets tired of me squeezing the bagettes and muttering nope nope nope argh to myself.
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)Their chocolate and coffee flavored yogurts make a tasty desert.
FourScore
(9,704 posts)I wonder what global warming will look like in 10 years from now. I am so worried. Scared even, if I let myself go there.
Right now, in Upstate NY, there is a fine drizzle and about 75 degrees out. But last winter was one of the most brutal I have ever experienced.
How can anyone still be in denial of climate change?
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)closeupready
(29,503 posts)Could NEVER live somewhere like Florida or Louisiana due to the latter.
randys1
(16,286 posts)Blue_In_AK
(46,436 posts)and releases tons of methane into the atmosphere, which will happen sooner rather than later if these fires keep up.
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)I miss moisture. If I had wanted scorching summers and everything turning brown and dusty I would have moved back to California.
Very eerie feeling to this ... Can't help but think we are all starting to circle the drain.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)And you as well!
IDemo
(16,926 posts)Blew the old record off the charts, nearly 25 degrees above normal. Me and the dogs and the garden are ready for September.
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)I'm not cut out to live in a desert climate. Some people love it, but it makes me feel like I'm withering up.
shanti
(21,675 posts)I'm still stuck in parched NorCal (supposed to be 109 today!) and the PNW is my future destination, probably within the next 5 years. Please don't say there's no more rain up there!
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)but this June feels like what mid-August usually feels like. I usually don't have to water my rhodies until well into the summer, but this year I've gotta turn the hose on 'em pretty early.
I've got a family member in the Bay Area who is getting out, too. She can't take the endless heat/drought/brownness.
PasadenaTrudy
(3,998 posts)I have dreams of moving to Portland some day, lol!
tblue37
(65,552 posts)shanti
(21,675 posts)but i wouldn't move there if you paid me.
tblue37
(65,552 posts)dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)And worse to come:
Rex
(65,616 posts)Just asking questions.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)his 'snowball' over here and try to hold it for 10 seconds down in the Paris streets.
They will only wake up when its their property or livelihood that are under threat.
Rex
(65,616 posts)we've entered the 6th great mass extinction cycle. I would never put money into any of them being worth even a warm pitcher of spit.
Florida is sinking under the waves of Mother Earth. They don't care Surya, the just don't. And that is why I hate them so. All that crap about Good Shepards went in one ear and out the other.
If I could build a big enough spaceship, I would launch them all into the Sun and tell them it doesn't really exist so shut up and eat some cake.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)going to sink the mothership Earth through their greed and avidity.
truebrit71
(20,805 posts)...at least until they get into the higher elevations...
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)Last edited Tue Jun 30, 2015, 06:39 PM - Edit history (1)
in this crushing heat, let alone on the 'pentes'.
It's coming your way tomorrow, truebrit! Assuming you're somewhere in southern England?
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)109 degrees F. I feel your pain.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)But, am no longer accustomed--the average summer temp here in northern France is 70-75°F.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)to last?
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)jwirr
(39,215 posts)Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)serve as a natural insulator.
But, they also throw off the heat at night, making it tough to sleep.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)Non-stop PSAs on TV advising people to 'REHYDRATE'.
The heat won't kill ya, but dehydration will.
I start drinking as soon as I wake up and then drink every hour on the hour.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)nothing like you are facing.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)I don't think you meant that the way it came out.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)Rosa Luxemburg
(28,627 posts)PasadenaTrudy
(3,998 posts)Humidity is 46% right now and around 90 degrees. This is hard on me even with a/c. I'm very heat sensitive. Anything over 80 makes me feel sick. We don't normally have this humidity, either. I think I'd be dead if I was in Europe, seriously! Hope things get better for us all. Soon!!
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)If you look at the globe, you'll see that we're (France) at the same latitude as Canada.
PasadenaTrudy
(3,998 posts)Not Canada...I'm in Los Angeles area.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)Your SoCal temps, I mean.
PasadenaTrudy
(3,998 posts)Sorry for the confusion!
Skittles
(153,311 posts)I have not seen a tripled degree day yet this summer
very strange indeed
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)What the hell is going on?
Pack up a case of that cool and send it our way!
valerief
(53,235 posts)Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)teenage boys like.
raouldukelives
(5,178 posts)I've lived my entire life in an area that gets as high as 120F and have never had a home or car with AC.
Lots of water, lots of hats, lots of fans, leave the house open all night and closed tight during the day.
Thankfully its a low humidity area. But one tiny shift like this would wreak devastating havoc on those trapped in one.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)raouldukelives
(5,178 posts)are these things called cool wraps or cooling scarves. They are like a scarf with tiny beads inside that hold moisture like an ice pack.
You soak them in water and put them in the fridge and then wear them around your neck or wherever you like.
I got mine cheap at a local discount store. Stay cool!
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)I absolutely hate the heat. I am uncomfortable when it goes above 75 F.
We have been lucky here in Boston so far, it has been a fairly mild June, only a few humid days. Usually our summers are beastly hot and humid. I think I spend more time inside in the summer than I do in the winter because I can't bear the heat. Luckily, I don't have to pay for my AC, so I can keep it cool on hot days.
Hopefully things will cool down for you soon!
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)That's me, too!
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)Wet heat, dry heat, whatever. It is too damn hot.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)Wonder if she could sing and dance like this in 104° temps...LOL!
DFW
(54,506 posts)It's unusual enough to see the sun, but 35°?? That's 95° F in a country where air conditioners are considered exotic. We don't even have one in our house in Germany. That may have to change if this keeps up.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)Exotic air conditioners? Talk to the French. Even down in the Midi, they rely on the thick old stone walls to keep them cool in summer.
I've got ALL three of my fans working non-stop, one in the ceiling, a big rotating one on a stand, and a smaller one on the counter in the kitchen.
Have stripped down to a damp T-shirt.
Shutters and windows closed to the blast of heat from the street and courtyard.
KEEP COOL ! ! !
DFW
(54,506 posts)Here in Sprout City, the offices I'm working in have AC, as does my hotel room. Outside, though, it feels like Dallas, which is VERY weird!
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)In Cleveland, OH, at the time, very few had AC. Down here you can't live without it. I get what you are saying.