{"id":603378,"date":"2026-05-25T18:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T18:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/603378\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T18:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T18:18:09","slug":"heat-dome-over-europe-scorches-uk-france-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/603378\/","title":{"rendered":"Heat dome over Europe scorches UK, France, Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">LONDON &#8211; Temperatures hit record highs for May in the United Kingdom and France on May 25, as forecasters warned of a prolonged period of extreme heat across Europe throughout the week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">A so-called \u201cheat dome\u201d of warm air from northern Africa trapped under a high-pressure system over western Europe is behind the high temperatures not usually seen until high summer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Temperatures in Spain were expected to peak later this week at 38 deg C, while parts of Italy imposed restrictions on working outdoors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">In the UK, the Met Office weather agency said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/world\/europe\/uk-set-to-break-record-for-hottest-may-day?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\">it was the hottest May day on record<\/a>, with temperatures hitting 34.8 deg C at Kew Gardens, south-west London \u2013 a full two degrees above the previous high.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cThis heat would be exceptional in the UK even in mid-summer, let alone May,\u201d it said on X.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cThe weather here, it\u2019s like a mini version of hell. It\u2019s boiling. It\u2019s like really hot,\u201d said 10-year-old Liza Nizari on a visit to London, where temperatures normally average about 17 deg C or 18 deg C at this time of year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Ms Lindy Brand-Daloze, a 66-year-old Australian administrator who has been living in in London for 12 years, said: \u201cIt\u2019s warm, but it\u2019s climate change, isn\u2019t it? So, you know, (we have) probably got to get used to this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Scientists say human-induced climate change is making extreme weather events like heatwaves, droughts and floods more intense, resulting in temperature records being broken more frequently.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst told AFP the increase in extreme temperatures was \u201ca good indication of climate change in action\u201d and more likely to become \u201cthe new norm\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Climate advisers last week warned the UK government that the country was \u201cbuilt for a climate that no longer exists\u201d and urged it to adapt infrastructure like schools and hospitals for a warming planet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">In 2022, temperatures in the UK soared above 40 deg C for the first time since records began.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Across the Channel, weather agency Meteo-France put eight areas in the west of France on heatwave alert \u2013 signifying three days and nights of intense heat that are likely to pose a health risk to the population.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/cdfc97e36d06f0200cd33593bbbec0e6cf21ea8c18113790f6e2883344f9de42.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"aspect-landscape flex items-start shrink-0 object-cover landscape article-landscape mobile:w-auto tablet:w-auto\" data-testid=\"image-test-id\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-eyebrow-baseline-regular text-secondary\" data-testid=\"inline-media-caption-test-id\">Paris on May 23 notched up its first temperature above 30 deg C of the year, hitting 31.9 deg C.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-eyebrow-baseline-regular text-placeholder\" data-testid=\"inline-media-credit-test-id\">PHOTO: AFP<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">In the north-western city of Rennes, 74-year-old Daniele Dupont tried to stick to the shade as she walked her dog in 27 deg C on the morning of May 25.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cI\u2019m going to close the shutters. I won\u2019t be going out this afternoon,\u201d she said in the capital of the Brittany region.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">On May 24, \u201crecord high maximum temperatures for the month of May\u201d were felt in at least 10 locations, including the northwestern seaside towns of Lorient and Noirmoutier.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The capital, Paris, on May 23 notched up its first temperature above 30 deg C of the year, hitting 31.9 deg C.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Temperatures of up to 35 deg C are expected in Brittany and between 36 deg C and 37 deg C in the south, with the high temperatures lasting until the weekend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">On May 24, a man died during a 10km running race in Paris, civil defence services said, while 10 more had to be taken to hospital in critical condition after a race in the capital\u2019s suburb of Maisons-Alfort, the authorities said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">A 28-year-old woman also died of heatstroke at an indoor athletics meeting in the eastern Rhone region.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">In Spain, the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) warned the \u201cextraordinarily high temperatures for this time of year\u201d will continue across the country all week, except in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, off the north-west coast of Africa.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cWidespread tropical nights\u201d are also forecast in south-western Spain from May 27, with temperatures peaking from May 27 to May 29 at between 36 deg C and 38 deg C, it wrote on X.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Farther east, Italy\u2019s Lazio region, which includes Rome, on May 25 approved rules limiting work in conditions \u201cwith prolonged exposure in the sun\u201d between 12.30pm and 4pm.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The measures apply, for example, to farms, construction sites and in the logistics sector and apply until Sept 15.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Similar rules had been put in place in 2025 but only from May 30. AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONDON &#8211; Temperatures hit record highs for May in the United Kingdom and France on May 25, as&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603379,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-603378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}