Heatwave in Europe: hundreds of schools across France closed on Monday
At least 845 schools closed, while around 1,800 will cut classes short, French Education Minister Édouard Geffray said on Sunday. Asked if he would order schools closed nationwide, Geffray told broadcaster France 3 that decisions should be taken at the local level. In some cases, schools can be better adapted to protect children from extreme heat than housing, he noted.
In the 49 departments ( with a population nearly 35 million people, including almost 4 million aged 75 or older) France's national weather service has declared a maximum "red alert" for extreme heat, including the entire Paris region, all of the west coast and swathes of the centre and south. "Monday and Tuesday are likely to be very hot. We are likely to break temperature records and remain at very high levels," Mathieu Lefèvre, France's minister for ecological transition, told a press conference on Sunday. "We do not expect temperatures to drop by the end of the week." Scores of schools across England and Wales announced they would close or finish early this week to protect pupils amid the extreme heat, while transport bosses have warned people against all but essential travel. The UK Health Security Agency has issued a red health warning for six regions of England from 1am on Wednesday until 11pm on Thursday. The six regions are the West Midlands, East Midlands, South East, South West, London and east of England. This indicates “a risk to life for even the healthy population” as well as impacts beyond health and social care, with potential effects on transport systems, food, water, energy supplies and businesses. It is the second red heat health warning to be issued, after the first in July 2022 when temperatures soared above 40C in the UK for the first time. Italy’s Health ministry has declared a red heatwave alert in 15 cities including Milan and Rome on Tuesday and said the number would go up to 16 on Wednesday The heatwave affecting large parts of Europe is known as an Omega block because it takes the shape of the Greek letter, with a bulge of hot air in the middle and cooler air either side. “It’s drawing warm air up from North Africa, from the Sahara, and that’s why we have this really intense heat,” said Clair Barnes, a climate scientist at Imperial College in London, quoted by Reuters. It’s very slow moving and it means there’s kind of no wind, no breeze for respite.
Sources: RFI, The Guardian, PA Media reports.