The first heatwave of this season will scorch the European capitals for the rest of the week, breaking temperature records and pushing up the demand for electricity, reports Bloomberg, taken by Agerpres.
On Monday, Britain experienced its earliest ever “tropical night”, with temperatures not dropping below 20 degrees Celsius, for Tuesday to be the hottest day since May. In France, many regional heat records were set for May, including 35.8 degrees Celsius at La Roche-sur-Yon in the west. Meteo-France, the government forecasting agency, is forecasting temperatures of up to 39 degrees Celsius in the coming days.
The heat was good news for some retailers. In the UK, Currys stores saw a 2,758% increase in sales of fans and other cooling products over the previous year over the May Bank Holiday weekend.
John Lewis Partnership stores also reported an 800% increase in sales of fans, while sales of children's pools were up 700% on the previous week. British electrical retailer AO World reported similar sales increases.
Temperatures are expected to drop towards the end of the week, but the scorching start to the season is heightening concerns about how climate change is causing more extreme weather events, which Europe is struggling to adapt to.
Long-term forecasts point to more heat waves for the world's fastest-warming continent, meteorologists say, as persistent heat dries out soils and increases the risk of higher temperatures.
Electricity price temporarily below zero in Germany and France
On the other hand, the heat fueled the booming production of photovoltaic energy, which set record values in the UK.
Unusually clear skies are expected to persist this week, with particularly strong solar output across the UK as well as France, Germany and most of north-west and central Europe, according to analysis by analysts at MetDesk.
Abundant electricity supply pushed German power prices below zero for six hours around midday on Wednesday, while prices in France were expected to reach negative territory for two hours and remain near zero for several more hours, according to data from the Epex Spot exchange.
Electricity demand in France is expected to peak at 52.8 gigawatts at 2:30 p.m., up from about 48 gigawatts a week earlier, according to data from France's high-voltage grid operator (RTE).
