Europe swelters in summer's first heatwave as continent warms

FRANCE 24 English

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00:00With highs of 36 degrees expected across parts of Britain in the coming days,

00:04residents are flocking to the coast in search of relief.

00:08Make some nice changes, it's really nice.

00:09I've been drinking loads of water and I've put sun cream on.

00:13The UK is bracing for some of its highest temperatures in three years,

00:17with an Amber Alert now in force across all of England.

00:20And it's not just Britain, much of the Mediterranean is sweltering too.

00:24Across the Channel in France, temperatures could soar to 38 degrees in some regions.

00:29Four departments in the south are under the second highest heat alert

00:32and there's no sign of relief just yet.

00:35A second heat peak is expected this weekend and into early next week,

00:40caused by a more stable weather pattern.

00:43A powerful heat dome, essentially a large stationary area of high pressure,

00:47will settle over Western Europe.

00:49It traps hot air, stops weather systems from moving through

00:52and intensifies the heat by compressing the air.

00:55That heat dome is now gripping parts of southern Europe,

00:59sending temperatures soaring across the Iberian Peninsula.

01:03In Spain, it's turned deadly.

01:05With the heat expected to surpass 40 degrees this weekend,

01:08authorities are bracing for a rise in heat stroke cases.

01:12In Greece, the extreme temperatures are triggering wildfires.

01:15On Friday, homes were evacuated and water-bombing planes deployed

01:19as 130 firefighters tackled fast-moving flames south of Athens.

01:24That blaze is now under control,

01:26but with temperatures forecast to stay around the 40-degree mark,

01:30the fire risk remains dangerously high.

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