Not only did the Netherlands experience the first “warmest day ever measured” of this year last week, a large part of Western Europe is experiencing temperatures that are exceptionally high for this time of year. In parts of Spain, France, Italy and even England it is so hot that there is already a heat wave.
Several Asian countries are also experiencing heat waves and extreme temperatures. In the north of Vietnam, among other places, it was more than 40 degrees for days last week. Authorities in the Indian capital New Delhi issued a warning earlier this month according to Reuters news agency for “heat wave to extreme heat wave conditions”.
On the banks of the Yamuna River in New Delhi, a man tries to protect his son from the heat.
Photo Adnan Abidi/REUTERS
Water not only provides cooling during heat, but also fun. A boy goes down a slide in Essen, Germany, and children play in a fountain in the French city of Lyon.
Photos Ina Fassbender/AFP and Jeff Pachoud/AFP
A British supermarket worker loads bottled water into cars in a store car park in the tourist resort of Whitstable in south-west England.
Photo Kevin Coombs/REUTERS
According to meteorologists, the exceptionally warm weather in Europe is caused by a so-called ‘heat dome’, in which a high-pressure area hangs in one place for longer than normal. Researchers expect this phenomenon will become more common due to climate change.
People cool off in the Arabian Sea near Karachi, Pakistan, during the hot second day of the Feast of the Sacrifice.
Photo Shahzaib Akber/EPA
During the heat wave in Paris, people protest to draw attention to the living conditions of migrants and the homeless.
Photo Tom Nicholson/REUTERS
In the London subway a woman cools down with a small fan, in Milan a woman carries her dog.
Photo Tolga Akmen/EPA, Photo Stefano Rellandini/AFP
It is also very hot in Austria. The water of the river Wien, which runs through the Stadtpark in Vienna, is very low.
Photo Joe Klamar/AFP
In St. Peter’s Square in Rome, people try to shield themselves from the sun as they wait for the weekly audience of Pope Leo XIV.
Photo Yara Nardi/REUTERS
During the heat wave in India this month, Sanjay Lake in New Delhi partially dried up, causing dead fish to float to the surface.
Photo Arun Sankar/AFP
In a store in Paris this week, people are eagerly looking for fans and air conditioners.
Photo Tom Nicholson/REUTERS
A fan casts a little shade on the head of a woman in Lisbon. Last week, a temperature of 40 degrees was reached in Portugal for the first time in May.
Photo Patricia de Melo Moreira/AFP