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50 degree heat and other weather extremes. Where is all this heat coming from?
The time of summer extremes has arrived in the weather. This is the planet’s angry reaction to being thrown out of balance. It is a matter of not long before the temperature threshold, which has been unimaginable until now, is exceeded.
Where is the heat coming from? Here the answer is simple: from Africa, or more precisely, from Morocco and Algeria, the western part of the Sahara. In summer, a giant tropical high sits over the world’s largest desert, in which the air settles, and further warms and dries out.
The hot arm of this Saharan high in mid-July advanced toward the Iberian Peninsula. From there, in the following days, it reached even further north — to France, Switzerland, northern Italy, the Benelux countries and reached southern England. At Heathrow Airport near London, thermometers showed 40.2°C. This is a historic record for the UK, although the result has yet to be verified by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Finally, this hot tentacle has moved a bit to the east and has also reached Poland via Germany.
