Global weather alert: Heatwave engulfs US, Europe, Japan while floods wreak havoc in India and South Korea
US predicts that the country is set to witness an “extremely hot and dangerous weekend". The prediction indicates that the heat could remain concentrated on the West Coast this weekend, things could get hotter in the South by early next week. The US weather agency noted that Phoenix is likely to record its hottest week on record, based on the 7-day temperature average.
Phoenix, Arizona's capital, has now seen 16 consecutive days of temperatures above 109F (43C) and could even break the record by reaching 118F by the end of Saturday. Meanwhile, wildfires in Canada have burned more than 10 million hectares (24.7 million acres) of land this year leading to around 150,000 people being displaced. The burned land is roughly equivalent to the size of counties like Portugal or Iceland.
Italy's health ministry has issued a red alert for 16 cities in the country including Rome, Bologna and Florence. Italians have been told to prepare for the most intense heatwave of the summer which could also be the most intense of all time. France's National Weather Agency has issued a heatwave warning for several areas of the country since Tuesday.
Meanwhile, rising temperatures and resulting droughts are threatening France's agricultural industry. Similarly, Spain's Met Office has warned that a new heatwave will hit the Canary Islands and southern Andalusia from Monday to Wednesday, with temperatures rising above 40C. After a scorching summer, India is witnessing a devastating monsoon that has left the national capital virtually submerged in water, causing traffic chaos and disrupting the daily lives of Delhites.
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