Spain heatwave: Mercury could hit 42C as parts of US, Europe and Asia swelter

Forecasters said the ‘exceptionally high’ temperatures are being caused by a plume of hot air from the African continent
AFP via Getty Images
Elly Blake20 May 2022

Spain could see highs of 42C this weekend as a heatwave sweeps across the country.

Forecasters are expecting highs of 42C in the Guadalquivir valley in southern Spain while other parts of the country could reach 40 degrees.

It’s meterological agency said “exceptionally high” temperatures are being caused by a plume of hot air from the African continent.

The heatwave could see Spain’s record temperatures for May smashed if they reach 42C, according to the UK’s Met Office.

Meanwhile, France is also sweltering with the country’s meterological service forecasting the mercury to reach up to 38C in some areas on Saturday.

Parts of the south and east of France are seeing unusually hot temperatures for this time of year.

Elsewhere, extreme heat is continuing to grip parts of Asia.

India and Pakistan have been crippled by blistering heat that has engulfed the region since March.

The extreme pre-monsoon heatwave the region northwest India and Pakistan saw peak peak temperatures of 51C in Pakistan on Saturday.

Maximum temperatures are likely to reach 50C in some spots again this weekend, the Met Office said.

It comes as a study found climate change makes record-breaking heatwaves in northwest India and Pakistan 100 times more likely.

The region should now expect a heatwave that exceeds the record temperatures seen in 2010 once every three years.

And in the US, the northeast of the country is bracing itself for heatwaves.

The National Weather Service said it expected temperaturs to be significantly higher than average in parts of the mid-Atlantic and north-east on Saturday - well above 30C.

Climate scientists are concerned heatwaves are increasing in intensity and frequency.

They say this is due to global heating, mainly caused by burning fossil fuels.

A United Nations report published last August said it is “virtually certain that hot extremes (including heatwaves) have become more frequent and more intense across most land regions since the 1950s.”

It added experts had “high confidence” that human-induced climate change is the main driver of these changes

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