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British Temperature
Breaks 100 for First Time Ever
From the Alps to arid southern forests, Europe
bakes in record heat
London Breaks
100 degrees
The Associated Press,
Aug. 10, 2003
Britain sweltered through
its hottest day on record Sunday and
Alpine glaciers melted as the heat wave that has baked much of
Europe for days sizzled relentlessly on.
The heat and drought-driven
fires across the continent prompted
Pope John Paul II to urge people to pray for rain.
''It is just miserable.
You can't get any respite from it,''
said Londoner Ranald Davidson, squinting in the late afternoon
sun as Britain surpassed 100 degrees for the first time.
The national weather
service recorded a reading of 100.22 degrees
at Heathrow Airport, outside a parched and baking London,
and 100.58 degrees at Gravesend in southern England. Northern
parts of the country were cooler, and torrential rain created
problems in North Yorkshire.
Germans, too, have
had record heat. In the Bavarian city of Roth,
the temperature hit nearly 105 degrees Saturday. The previous
record of 104 was also in Bavaria, set in 1983.
More than 40 deaths
-- including a 3-year-old French girl who died
in a parked car on Sunday -- have been blamed on temperatures
that
have hovered in the 100-degree range for days.
Pope John Paul II made
his prayer appeal at the papal palace
in lakeside Castel Gandolfo, which is generally cooler than Rome.
Drought-fed fires have plagued Italy, the Iberian Peninsula,
France and arid areas of other countries.
''I invite all to join
in my prayers for the victims of this
calamity, and I exhort all to raise to the Lord fervent
entreaties so that He may grant the relief of rain to the
thirsty Earth,'' John Paul told pilgrims and tourists.
In northeastern Italy,
firefighters worked for a third day
to put out a blaze in the countryside near Udine.
Three big fires burned
in Portugal. The government asked Spain
for two firefighting planes to help tackle a wildfire near
Portimao, in the southern region of Algarve. About 145
firefighters, 45 vehicles, two helicopters and two planes
were battling the flames.
In the French Alps,
a police officer warned hikers about
avalanches along a popular route on Mont Blanc. Glacial ice
is melting, loosening rocks from the mountainside. On Saturday,
helicopters evacuated 44 climbers in danger, police said.
Germany was expected
to remain hot until midweek; France
was counting on at least another week of abnormally high
temperatures; and forecasters in Italy expect the country
to be steamy through August.
Spain's National Meteorological
Institute predicted temperatures
above 107 degrees will continue throughout Spain for at least
another week. Authorities in the Barcelona area have asked
people not to visit national parks for picnics to avoid accidental
fires.
In southern England,
the unaccustomed stretch of very hot
weather parched lawns in the capital and taxed tempers.
Two Australian women
looking for an air-conditioned pub
in the Holborn area of London were fed up with the search
for a cool place to sit.
''London is not built
for these temperatures!'' said
Jenny Geddes, 29, of Newcastle, Australia.
''Where do you escape
in London? There's nowhere to go
sit and cool off,'' said Heather Irvine, of Ettalong,
Australia, now living in London.
In Britain, many trains
have had to reduce speeds because
of the danger that heat will buckle tracks. The London
Underground is so hot that signs have appeared at stations
advising people to take bottled water with them and to
let staff know if they are feeling unwell before they
get on the train.
At Britain's beaches,
people are often wrapped up in wool
cardigans as they await the appearance of the sun, thousands
of people bared nearly all on Sunday, soaking up the rays.
At the southern resort
town of Bournemouth, the coastline was jammed.
''Our capacity on the
seafront is about 100,000 and there is
no spare sand here today,'' said senior seafront inspector
Brian Cunnings. ''Everybody has just squeezed in wherever
they can.''
In Paris, Sonia Tiba,
28, who works for the French administration,
was strolling on the Champs-Elysees on Sunday and sipping an
icy drink. She was dreading going back to work Monday in her
office with no air conditioning.
''Tomorrow, we'll just
have to take a deep breath and be brave.
We don't have any choice,'' Tiba said.
© 2003 Associated
Press. All rights reserved.
