Europe’s sizzle continues; Paris hits record 105.1 degrees
PARIS — The city has beaten its all-time temperature record, hitting 108.7 F amid a heat wave breaking barriers across Europe.
The national weather service Meteo France announced that the new record was reached Thursday afternoon, beating the previous record of 104.8 F in 1947.
It’s one of several records set in this week’s heat wave — the second wave baking the continent this summer.
France saw its hottest-ever day on record last month, when a southern town reached 46 C (114.8 F).
Rise in drownings related to heat wave
France’s interior minister warned as the country suffered through another heat wave that drownings across the country are up 30% this month compared to last July.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner linked France’s 60 drowning deaths so far this month indirectly to the current heat wave.
Castaner noted a rise in people drowning in unguarded bodies of water as they seek relief from high temperatures. He says some victims suffer thermal shock when they jump from hot air into cold water.
Children sick at Dutch summer camp
Dutch media are reporting that about 20 children became ill at a summer camp as temperatures passed 40 degrees Celsius in several areas of the Netherlands.
Broadcaster RTV Utrecht reported that the children fell ill in the central town of Leusden on Thursday afternoon.
Some of the children were taken to a hospital to be examined.
A local emergency services coordinator tweeted that first responders were at the scene administering first aid.
A person who answered the telephone at the camp declined to comment and hung up.
Smog warning
A Dutch government health institute is warning of high levels of smog due to ozone in the air in parts of the country as a heat wave bakes Europe.
The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment issued a “smog alarm” Thursday for regions including the densely populated cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague.
The institute says air quality in the some regions will be “extremely bad” because light winds mean that pollution is not being blown away and sunlight transforms it into ozone.
The smog can cause irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, and leave people coughing and short of breath.
The institute warns that the elderly, children and people who already suffer from airway problems are particularly susceptible, and should stay indoors and avoid strenuous physical exertions.
Temperatures in the Netherlands are forecast to climb toward 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) on Thursday.
Belgium surpasses record temp
Officials in Belgium say the nation has seen temperatures rise past the 40 C mark for the first time since records were kept in 1833.
The Belgian meteorological institute said on Thursday that the new record now stood at 40.2 C (104.4 F), recorded close to Liege in eastern Belgium’s Angleur on Wednesday.
It had said earlier that the 39.9 C seen in Kleine Brogel was the new national record.
The institute said that the record could well be broken again on Thursday.
Boy in car dies in Austria
Authorities in Austria say a 2-year-old boy has died of dehydration in the country’s Styria region after he climbed into an overheated parked car without his family noticing and fell asleep in it.
The Austrian news agency APA reported Thursday that the boy, who climbed into a car parked at the family’s farm on Monday, died at a children’s hospital on Wednesday.
The country’s authorities warned Thursday that children and animals can die quickly in closed cars without air conditioning even if the outside temperature is only at 26 degrees Celcius (79 F).
Europe is sweltering in a record-breaking heat wave with temperatures expected to rise to more than 40 C (104 F) in some places.
