Europe heatwave: Sipping Pina Coladas at 11 am? Understanding why UK, France, Spain are getting so hot
A British tourist was spotted sipping Pina Colada at 11 am. “It's so hot. It's absolutely boiling,” he told France24 as he strolled through the
A British tourist was spotted sipping Pina Colada at 11 am. “It's so hot. It's absolutely boiling,” he told France24 as he strolled through the streets somewhere in Europe in May this year. Europe, including the UK, is reeling under brutal heatwaves. Thanks to the 'heat dome', a pocket of warm air trapped under a high-pressure system, which is driving unusually high temperatures across Europe. Millions of people across Europe were exposed to extreme and exceptional high temperatures on Tuesday, with 40 fatalities from drowning recorded in France in the past week as residents seek relief from the searing heat. The UK MET issued a 'Red Extreme Heat Warning' for Wednesday and Thursday, with temperatures expected to climb to at least 39°C -- breaking June’s all-time daily record temperature. "There remains a chance of this being exceeded in places, the MET office says in its forecast. In France, forecasters said temperatures in Paris could hit 40 degrees Celsius this week, which would be unprecedented for June. Météo-France said “exceptionally high temperatures, both day and night,” were expected. Spain’s national weather service, Aemet, also issued red alerts Tuesday for temperatures of 44 C (111 F) in southern Andalusia as well as warnings of thermometers hitting 40 C (104 F) in the normally temperate Cantabria and the Basque Country regions along its northern Atlantic coast. According to several experts and reports, this unseasonably hot weather is being driven by a so-called "heat dome".
“Heat domes happen all over the world, and the one over Europe this week is locking in days of near-record highs across Britain, Spain and France,” the New York Times reported. What is a heat dome? A heat dome forms when a massive bubble of high-pressure air parks over a region, the UNDDR explained in a video. "It traps heat like a lid on a pot," it says. According to the agency, this happens when the jet stream — a high river of air that usually moves weather systems along — slows down or gets stuck. When that happens, extreme events like heatwaves, torrential rain or wildfires get trapped in place for days or weeks. The Omega block Omega Block and heat dome are related to each other but not the same. Simply put, the Omega Block is the cause, and the 'heat dome' is the consequence. Reuters quoted a weather analyst as saying that a so-called “Omega block” weather pattern is driving the intense, slow-moving European heatwave, prompting authorities across the continent to issue heat warnings. The pattern is known as an “Omega block,” with a dome of hot air trapped in the centre and cooler air masses on either side, the report added. It's called Omega Block because it takes the shape of the Greek letter, with a bulge of hot air in the middle and cooler air on either side, allowing temperatures to build day after day.
The BriefWire