Heatwaves will occur earlier and more often in the future, the UN’s weather and climate agency said on Friday, pointing to the pre-summer heatwaves already scorching parts of Europe.
“What we are witnessing today is, unfortunately, a foretaste of the future,’’ said Clare Nullis.
Nullis is the spokeswoman for the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
The extremely high temperatures that spread from North Africa across southern Europe and were expected to hit Switzerland and Germany this weekend are more typical for July or August, the WMO said.
In some parts of Spain and France, temperatures have climbed more than 10 degrees Celsius above the average for this time of year, Nullis said.
Spain, Portugal, Hungary and Serbia were affected by drought, while outside Europe, heat warnings had been issued for almost a third of the population in the U.S. earlier this week.
“As a result of climate change, heatwaves are starting earlier, they are becoming more frequent and more severe because of concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which are at a record level,’’ Nullis said.
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