Another Europe heat wave shatters all-time records in Belgium and the Netherlands with more records possible
By Jonathan Erdman
24 July 2019
(The Weather Channel) – Another Europe heat wave is building that may shatter the all-time record in Paris and set national records in at least three countries as it spreads into Scandinavia.
On Wednesday, all-time record highs were broken in Belgium and the Netherlands when temperatures reached 102.3 degrees and 101.8 degrees. The previous record in Belgium was 101.8 degrees and in the Netherlands was 101.5 degrees.
According to Météo-France, all-time record highs were set Tuesday in western France, including the cities of Brive, Bordeaux and Châteauroux, where temperatures climbed above 105 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s equivalent to the average late-July high in Las Vegas and Phoenix.
Some all-time-hottest daily low-temperature records were also set Tuesday in southwestern France, including the cities of Bordeaux (77 degrees Fahrenheit) and Toulouse (76 degrees Fahrenheit), according to Météo-France. These are average late-July low temperatures in both Houston and Tampa.
This latest heat wave is being triggered by an omega block, a type of upper-level high-pressure pattern resembling the Greek letter Ω that blocks and diverts the jet stream. This will allow hot air to surge northward from northern Africa and the Iberian Peninsula.
This upper-level feature may become one of the strongest on record to occur over Scandinavia, even by late-July standards, when it pinches off late in the week.
The heat will expand from northern Spain and France into the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, northern Italy, the Czech Republic, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. […]
This latest heat wave may shatter the all-time record in Paris (Parc Montsouris) of 40.4 degrees Celsius (104.7 degrees Fahrenheit) set on July 28, 1947. Thursday offers the highest chance for this record to be topped.
Other locations in France and northern Spain are expected to top 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) through Thursday.
According to The Weather Company meteorologist Hannah Findley, unprecedented 40-degree Celsius highs are also possible in parts of Belgium, the Netherlands, which would break the records just set on Wednesday and in Luxembourg, where the current all-time record is 39.9 degrees. [more]
