London fire department at 40 degrees “Busiest day since World War II”
More than 1,500 people have died in the heatwave that hit southwestern Europe.
According to foreign media such as Archyde.com on the 20th (local time), Portugal’s health authorities announced that 1,63 people had died from heat waves from the 7th to the 18th.
Similar to Portugal, the death toll followed in Spain, which was hit by a scorching heat that exceeded 40 degrees Celsius.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said more than 500 people were killed in the heatwave that lasted regarding 10 days.
The fire spread and many people were displaced.
In the case of France, forest fires burned an area of regarding 110 square kilometers (27,180 acres), which is 37 times the area of Yeouido (2.9 square kilometers) in Seoul, and the number of victims exceeded 14,000.
In London, England, where the temperature reached an all-time high of over 40 degrees the day before, 41 buildings were damaged and 16 firefighters were injured in the fire, UPI news agency reported.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan also said that the fire department had the busiest day since World War II, as there were usually around 350 fire reports, but 2,600 came pouring in the day before.
Northern Europe is experiencing unprecedented heat as the hot air moves north.
According to the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI), on the 20th, the highest temperature in Roland Island in southern Denmark was 35.9 degrees and Boris in western Jutland was 35.6 degrees, respectively.
It broke the record of 35.3 degrees Celsius in 1941, the highest July ever recorded in 81 years.
Denmark’s record high temperature of 36.4 degrees Celsius was observed in August 1975, and even that record might soon be broken, the DMI warns.
The Swedish Meteorological Agency (SMHI) has also issued a heat wave advisory for several areas on the 20th and 21st.
SMHI warned, “The weather will be very hot with a maximum temperature of 30-35 degrees Celsius.”
/yunhap news
