The heatwave in Europe reached worrying records, like the a record high temperature of 41.5C degrees Celsius in Germany, as well as highest night-time minimum in Germany (29.4C), a new record for June in the UK of 37.7C, record temperatures in Slovakia... And, worst of all, deaths: an estimated 1,300 deaths from the heat since June 21 across Europe, according to WHO. France estimates that there have been 1,000 more deaths than usual since June 24,
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Many healthcare centres in France were overflowed, with up to 40% more interventions and consultations, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez (vía El País), and the two main funeral homes in Paris, which have just over a hundred spaces between them, were at capacity on Saturday morning due to a sharp increase in the number of deaths caused. Heat even caused a power outage leaving tens of thousands without power last week.
This worrying situation needs to lead to urgent measures to better prepare the country, the public infrastructures and even population (like the absurd - this is a personal note, being from Spain - notion that links having air-conditioning with right-wing ideologies) to heat waves that may become more and more common. And after an urgent meeting called by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu on Monday, Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou said on France Info that they will make a trip to Spain to study how they have adapted to the heat.
"In Madrid, with 40-degree heat, society functions. We have to accept that France in the summer is becoming like Spain", said Farandou, via El País. The trip will last two or three days to "study" how Spain functions even with unbearable and continuous high temperatures, taking a look at the "intensive workdays" in Spain, allowing employees to work from 8 AM to 3 PM, without a lunch break, to avoid working during the worst hours. "We need to go and understand how it works, how they made those decisions, what results it has yielded, and whether they are satisfied with them".