Vienna, Jun. 17, (dpa/GNA) - 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, spokeswoman for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
The extremely high temperatures that have spread from North Africa across southern Europe and are 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 recently climbed more than 10 degrees Celsius above the average for this time of year, Nullis said.
Spain, Portugal, Hungary and Serbia have also been affected by drought, while outside Europe, heat warnings had been issued for almost a third of the population in the United States 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.
GNA