Farmers fear drought as Italy’s longest river begins to dry up
Seawater is seeping into Italy’s longest river as the waterway starts to run dry in the heatwave, hitting a farming heartland that produces the milk for Parmesan cheese.
The Po River has never fallen this low so early in the year, raising fears of a devastating drought in July in this corner of northern Italy.
On the bank of one of its branches, farmer Federica Vidali looked anxiously at her sunflower field. The first bloom of the season has appeared, but part of the field is already dry and starting to crack. One of the two canals that irrigate it has been shut because the seawater would enter and damage the crops.
“We’re left with the water that others are willing to leave us. But we’re not second-division farmers!” Vidali told AFP.
The Po River’s flow has collapsed in a matter of days, dropping below 300 cubic meters per second, compared with an average of around 1,500 in June, according to Aipo, the interregional river agency.
“It has never dropped so fast, so early,” said Stefano Calderoni of the Italian irrigation association (Anbi).
Sandbanks are multiplying, depths fall to barely one meter in places, and the river’s few remaining fishermen swelter in the heat.
“Before, we used to pass on the left; now the passage is to the right of the sandbank, and it’s very, very narrow,” said Daniela Cuoghi, a surveyor for Aipo.
The many Alpine lakes that feed the Po Valley, Italy’s agro-industrial heartland, are still about 60 percent full. But farmers are drawing heavily from the waterways to irrigate fields parched by the heat.
It rained this winter, but the mountain snow that used to replenish the lake has already melted due to climate change.
“We’re not in a drought situation yet, but at this rate, there’s less than three weeks of water left in reserve,” said Damiano Di Simine, an expert with environmental group Legambiente.
Key events
Denmark sees hottest day on record
Denmark recorded its highest temperature in more than 150 years today, with the mercury reaching 36.6C.
It surpassed the previous record of 36.4C, which had stood since 1975.
In a post on X, the Danish Meteorological Institute said: “With 36.6C north of Odense, we have the warmest day ever since the measurements began in 1874. And the day isn’t over yet…”
More than 700 flights delayed at London Heathrow and Gatwick airports ‘due to stormy weather’
More than 700 flights have been delayed at London Heathrow and Gatwick airports, with some attributed to thunderstorms brought by the record-breaking heatwave.
Data from flight tracking website FlightAware shows 379 flights were delayed coming in and out of Heathrow so far today, as well as 385 to and from Gatwick. Sixty-eight flights were also cancelled at Heathrow, and 31 at Gatwick, according to FlightAware.
A spokesperson at Gatwick said: “Due to ongoing thunderstorms across the network last night, temporary air traffic restrictions were put in place, which resulted in some flights being delayed and cancelled this morning. Passengers should contact their airline for further information.”
The Guardian has contacted Heathrow for comment.
Slovakia breaks night record with temperature not falling below 26.3C
Romania is the latest country to issue a red alert, putting out a warning that almost the entire country would face extreme heat from Monday to Wednesday.
Slovakia has issued a similar warning and confirmed that Friday night was the warmest on record with temperatures not dropping below 26.3C.
The Czech Republic, Hungary and Moldova were also on the highest alert for the weekend, with Balkan countries also bracing for a tough few days.
Farmers fear drought as Italy’s longest river begins to dry up
Seawater is seeping into Italy’s longest river as the waterway starts to run dry in the heatwave, hitting a farming heartland that produces the milk for Parmesan cheese.
The Po River has never fallen this low so early in the year, raising fears of a devastating drought in July in this corner of northern Italy.
On the bank of one of its branches, farmer Federica Vidali looked anxiously at her sunflower field. The first bloom of the season has appeared, but part of the field is already dry and starting to crack. One of the two canals that irrigate it has been shut because the seawater would enter and damage the crops.
“We’re left with the water that others are willing to leave us. But we’re not second-division farmers!” Vidali told AFP.
The Po River’s flow has collapsed in a matter of days, dropping below 300 cubic meters per second, compared with an average of around 1,500 in June, according to Aipo, the interregional river agency.
“It has never dropped so fast, so early,” said Stefano Calderoni of the Italian irrigation association (Anbi).
Sandbanks are multiplying, depths fall to barely one meter in places, and the river’s few remaining fishermen swelter in the heat.
“Before, we used to pass on the left; now the passage is to the right of the sandbank, and it’s very, very narrow,” said Daniela Cuoghi, a surveyor for Aipo.
The many Alpine lakes that feed the Po Valley, Italy’s agro-industrial heartland, are still about 60 percent full. But farmers are drawing heavily from the waterways to irrigate fields parched by the heat.
It rained this winter, but the mountain snow that used to replenish the lake has already melted due to climate change.
“We’re not in a drought situation yet, but at this rate, there’s less than three weeks of water left in reserve,” said Damiano Di Simine, an expert with environmental group Legambiente.
After decades of warnings, why is Europe so unprepared for rising heat?
Ajit Niranjan
Despite repeated warnings and rising awareness, heatwaves still bring large parts of Europe to its knees.
Several hospitals in England have declared critical incidents as a result of extreme heat, with cooling units breaking down and critical IT systems stalling, while schools, workplaces and railways have been thrown into chaos and wildfires have broken out.
In France, where half of all homes have poor protection from high heat, more than 55 people have drowned while trying to cool down, four young children have died inside hot cars and two nuclear reactors have been forced to close for lack of cooling water.
So just why is Europe so unprepared for rising heat? Read on here:
Helena Smith
While much of Germany is braced for temperatures above 40C today, countries farther east that are more usually on the frontline of the climate crisis are experiencing mild weather conditions for this time of year, writes Helena Smith, the Guardian’s Athens-based correspondent.
Unlike huge swathes of western Europe, Greece is neither sweltering nor issuing emergency weather warnings. The mercury was registered at 31C in the Greek capital at noon today, according to Meteo, the official weather portal of Athens’ national observatory. On Sunday, noon readings are forecast at 30C.
The arrival of northerly winds – a summer trait – has brought further reli, but also wildfires, with authorities scrambling to put out blazes that erupted earlier in the day in Thiva, 52 miles (85km) north of Athens.
Budapest is preparing for its first Pride event after former leader Viktor Orbán, who presided over a years-long crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights, was ousted from office in April. That is despite temperatures in the Hungarian capital expected to reach 38C.
Speaking to the Guardian’s European community affairs correspondent, Ashifa Kassam, organisers said this year’s event “is particularly important because it is about hope, caution and perseverance all at once”.
“Budapest Pride’s hope is that LGBTQ people in Hungary will finally be seen not as political targets, but as whole citizens,” said Petra Buzás, part of the organising team.
You can read more of Ashifa’s report here:
Extreme heat continues in large parts of Europe as heatwave moves east
Much of Europe is facing another scorching hot day today, with the heatwave moving north-east across the continent.
The highest weather warning has been issued in France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Hungary, as scientists at the World Weather Attribution group say the heatwave gripping western Europe “is the most severe ever recorded”.
In Bratislava, the mercury did not drop below 26.3C overnight. The Slovak Meteorological Institute said it was the highest minimum daily air temperature recorded in the capital, beating the previous record of 24.8C set in 2017. “Today the temperature in the warmest locations will reach at least 39C and tomorrow will be even a little warmer,” it said.
The Netherlands Meteorological Institute has issued a red weather alert across much of the country due to extreme heat, with temperatures expected to reach 40C.
The extreme weather has put healthcare systems under severe strain in several countries, with Spain reporting more than 300 heat-related deaths in the past week.
Amber warning for extreme heat in the UK
While it will be a lot less hot in the UK, there is still an amber warning for extreme heat over parts of East Anglia and south-east England today.
The Met Office has forecast today’s temperatures as follows:
-
Aberdeen 22C
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Belfast 21C
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Birmingham 28C
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Cardiff 27C
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Glasgow 22C
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Liverpool 28C
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London 32C
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Newcastle 27C
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Plymouth 23C
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Sheffield 28C
Sarah Marsh
Families, including parents with newborn babies, are booking air-conditioned rooms in hotels to escape the UK heatwave, with companies reporting a surge in demand.
Data from the accommodation reservation website Booking.com shows that since 1 June, the share of searches using the “air-conditioning” filter has tripled across Great Britain coinciding with the latest heatwave in northern Europe.
Heartwood Inns, which operates pubs with rooms across the UK, said it was running at 86% occupancy this week, with many of its sites at or near capacity. The group has also seen a noticeable shift in inquiries, with about a third of callers asking whether rooms had air conditioning before booking.
The chain said it had also seen an increase in inquiries from parents with newborn babies looking for air-conditioned rooms after struggling to keep their homes cool enough for their infants to sleep comfortably.
Read more:
The German Weather Service has issued a high temperature warning across Germany. All 16 states are under a heat warning, the majority of which are categorised as “extreme heat”.
“The heatwave is set to peak today. Temperatures of over 36C are expected across the board, with localised highs of up to 42C degrees possible,” it said in a post on Bluesky.
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Nearly half of European cities are breaking heat records – research
Analysis by scientists from the World Weather Attribution group found temperatures in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain were between 5C and 12C above the seasonal average.
In a study, the research group also found that in 45% of 854 European cities examined, heat records had been broken or were forecast to be broken. The researchers measured what is known as the wet bulb globe temperature, a metric that combines air temperature, humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation to estimate how much heat stress people are likely to experience in real-world outdoor conditions.
Opening summary
The UK is set to get some respite from this week’s record-breaking heat over the weekend, but much of the rest of Europe remains in the grip of an intense heatwave as it shifts eastwards.
Germany provisionally recorded its highest ever temperature yesterday with 41.3C near the city of Saarbrücken close to the French border. Forecasters say the hottest conditions are now spreading into central and eastern Europe, including Poland and the Balkans, over the weekend.
The Ironman European Championship taking place tomorrow in Frankfurt has been forced to adapt to the extreme conditions, with organisers shortening both the cycling and running courses because of the heat.
“The heatwave is going to peak at the weekend, well over 40C in some parts of Germany,” Karsten Brandt, a meteorologist at weather forecasting site Donnerwetter.de, told Reuters.
France has borne the brunt of the heatwave, with temperatures exceeding well above 40C in some regions. The sweltering conditions have contributed to a growing number of heat-related fatalities in recent days, including dozens of drownings as people sought relief from the heat. Others have died after being left in hot vehicles or from heat stress.
The Pride march scheduled to take place in Paris over the weekend was postponed after police asked organisers to move the event to ease pressure on emergency services responding to the heatwave.
In contrast, organisers of the Budapest Pride march say the event will go ahead as planned this weekend despite temperatures forecast to reach 38C. They say the march is intended to send a message to Hungary’s new government after last year’s ban under former leader Viktor Orbán, underscoring continued public support for LGBTQ+ rights.
“This year’s Pride will send an important signal to the new government: these issues are still relevant, and we still face exclusion in many areas of life,” Hungarian transgender activist Pippin Nadori told AFP.
The UK provisionally broke its June temperature record for a third consecutive day yesterday, with 37.3C reached at Santon Downham in Suffolk. Until this week, the June record was 35.6C from the summer of 1976.
Andy Page, chief forecaster at the Met Office, said the UK will see a gradual shift in conditions over the weekend, with south-east England holding on to the warmest weather the longest. He added that an amber extreme heat warning remains in place for much of today, although temperatures are expected to peak in the low 30s.
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