Record May highs sweep across France as extreme heat hits western Europe | Europe weather

More than 350 French towns recorded their highest ever temperatures in May as France and the UK broke national temperature records amid an extreme early summer heat event that could see the mercury soaring to 40C in parts of Spain by the weekend.

The UK Met Office said that the country’s all-time record for May was broken when the temperature of 34.8 degrees was recorded in Kew Gardens in London.

New monthly highs for May were recorded at 352 weather stations mostly in western France, with the highest temperature – 37.1C – recorded near Hossegor in the southwestern region of the Landes, Météo France said late on Monday.

“This is an unprecedented event with a 1 in 1000 chance of occurring at this time of year based on the climate from 1979 to 2025, and almost impossible in pre-industrial times,” said climate scientist Christophe Cassou. he told Le Monde.

Forecasters said further new highs were likely to be set in France, Spain and the UK, with temperatures exceeding norms by 12C or 13C in what Météo France described as an “early, noticeable and prolonged” warm spell expected to last for several more days.

France’s national weather agency said the record temperatures were caused by a heat dome that forms when warm air from Morocco is trapped under high pressure, adding that Europe can expect such events “to occur more and more often, earlier and earlier, and to become increasingly intense.”

Models already predict that, with the effects of climate breakdown, June heatwaves are around 10 times more likely in Europe than in pre-industrial times, and the same trend is apparent for May.

“This prolongation of the heatwave season is entirely characteristic of the effects of climate change,” climate researcher Robert Vautard told Agence France-Presse. “Eventually we will see similar temperature events in April and October.”

31 of France’s 96 administrative departments were on high-temperature alert by Tuesday; eight of those are at the orange level, the second-highest level and requiring residents to “take precautions.” The country’s national heat warning system was activated in May for the first time since it was introduced in 2004.

Temperatures could reach near 36C locally in many towns and cities, reaching 37C on Tuesday, Météo-France said in a bulletin on Monday. “The west of the country will see temperatures several degrees higher than those recorded so far in May,” the statement said.

The mercury exceeded 35 degrees in the western cities of Niort and Nantes, reached 34.3 degrees in Poitiers, and approached 33 degrees in the capital Paris. Temperatures in much of Brittany’s northwestern region were expected to be between 33 and 35 degrees on Tuesday.

Le Parisien newspaper said: The national temperature average, measured at 30 weather stations across the country, hit a record 24.4C on Monday, compared to the previous high of 23.7C in 1944. This figure has not yet been confirmed by Météo France.

One person died after suffering a heart attack during a 10km running race in the Paris suburb of Maisons-Alfort on Sunday, while 10 more runners were hospitalized in critical condition after the race, civil defense services said.

Warm weather in Spain reached 38 degrees (5 to 10 degrees higher than normal in some southern regions over the weekend), said Rubén del Campo of the state meteorological office Aemet.

“The other thing that’s really notable is that the situation will last at least through the weekend. In fact, on Thursday and Friday it could get even hotter, with temperatures in most of the country reaching at least 34 degrees,” Del Campo said.

Stating that high temperatures of 36-38 degrees are expected between Wednesday and Friday in the Guadiana, Guadalquivir and Ebro valleys, the official stated that “temperatures may reach 40 degrees in some of these regions.”

Del Campo also said much of the country could experience so-called “tropical nights” where night temperatures do not fall below 20C.

Parts of the UK could be in a heatwave with temperatures exceeding 26 to 28 degrees – depending on location – for three days. In order for an official heat wave to be declared in France, night temperatures must also remain above a certain level.