A record-breaking heatwave in Europe is moving north toward Sweden and extremely high temperatures are expected across the country this week, the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute has warned.
With temperatures in Sweden expected to reach up to 35C (95F) in the coming days, the meteorological department said water shortages and the risk of wildfires are extremely high.
Authorities recommend staying hydrated to beat the heat and suggest cold showers and loose clothes as ways to keep cool.
Temperatures are at record highs in many countries across Europe, while Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, Greece and Croatia have been battling wildfires. Experts say the extreme weather is linked to climate change.
Swenja Surminski, managing director of Climate and Sustainability at Marsh McLennan and a member of the UK Committee on Climate Change - Adaptation Committee, said the brutal heatwave fits in with the projections of climate models and that "climate change makes heatwaves more likely and more severe."
She pointed out that governments need to start "building infrastructure today that will be resilient to these higher temperatures and infrastructure operators need to have plans in place to prepare for and respond to extreme temperatures, which will become more frequent in the future."
Prof. Richard Betts, head of Climate Impacts Research at the UK Met Office in Hadley Centre and chair in Climate Impacts at the University of Exeter, said: "We are causing climate change by emitting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and while we carry on doing this, the global climate will continue to heat up.”
He said this will continue to make heatwaves more severe and happen more often.
To stop the heating of the global climate and stop heatwaves becoming even more frequent and intense, "we need to completely stop putting more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,” he added.
With temperatures in Sweden expected to reach up to 35C (95F) in the coming days, the meteorological department said water shortages and the risk of wildfires are extremely high.
Authorities recommend staying hydrated to beat the heat and suggest cold showers and loose clothes as ways to keep cool.
Temperatures are at record highs in many countries across Europe, while Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, Greece and Croatia have been battling wildfires. Experts say the extreme weather is linked to climate change.
Swenja Surminski, managing director of Climate and Sustainability at Marsh McLennan and a member of the UK Committee on Climate Change - Adaptation Committee, said the brutal heatwave fits in with the projections of climate models and that "climate change makes heatwaves more likely and more severe."
She pointed out that governments need to start "building infrastructure today that will be resilient to these higher temperatures and infrastructure operators need to have plans in place to prepare for and respond to extreme temperatures, which will become more frequent in the future."
Prof. Richard Betts, head of Climate Impacts Research at the UK Met Office in Hadley Centre and chair in Climate Impacts at the University of Exeter, said: "We are causing climate change by emitting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and while we carry on doing this, the global climate will continue to heat up.”
He said this will continue to make heatwaves more severe and happen more often.
To stop the heating of the global climate and stop heatwaves becoming even more frequent and intense, "we need to completely stop putting more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,” he added.
