Europe swelters

The heat has been turned up for much of Europe this past week.

Temperatures have been slowly climbing for many cities. On Saturday, Paris saw their highest temperature this year of 38C. Not since 2003 has France experienced such high temperatures.

Meteo France issued heat wave warnings well in advance to alert the public of the potential dangers. This new warning system was implemented after the 2003 heat wave when approximately 15,000 people lost their lives.

London also saw its hottest day of the year on Saturday when St. James Park recorded 31C.

Spain, The Netherlands, Germany and Poland haven’t been left out either. On average cities across central and western Europe are seeing temperatures 8-11 degrees above average.

The culprit has been a vast area of high pressure over the central part of the continent. The clear skies and the warming downward nature of the air are working together to push temperatures higher and higher.

Not only have temperatures climbed, but so have electricity prices. With heat comes the need to try and stay cool, putting a demand on the power grids.

An ongoing drought in southeastern Europe is finding no relief as this newest surge of heat promises to push into the region this week. It is estimated that Croatia will suffer from over 165 million dollars in crop damage this year.

Temperatures are already making their way back down for England on Monday, with most of northern Europe cooling off as well by Tuesday.