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Europe swelters under heat wave
LONDON, England -- A heat wave sweeping through Europe has a caused a string of deaths and threatened some countries -- already hit by droughts and forest fires -- with power shortages and travel delays. From Russia to the Iberian Peninsula to Britain, temperatures have reached the highest levels in decades. And the worst could be yet to come, according to weather officials. "The coming days could approach or beat this maximum," Dominique Escale of Meteo France, the French national weather service, told The Associated Press. "This is a very, very hot summer." High temperatures have been blamed for the deaths of at least 12 people in Europe. In Spain's southern region of Andalucia, 13 people -- mostly elderly -- have died from the heat wave since Thursday, AP reported. Temperatures in the high 30s Celsius (upper 90s Fahrenheit) caused five deaths in the northern German town of Holzminden over the weekend. Meanwhile, forest fires -- fanned by heat, high winds and drought -- have killed more than a dozen people in Portugal, Spain and France in the past week. (Full story) The heat wave has forced authorities in France, where temperatures jumped to about 40C (104F) Monday, to spray cold water on the walls of the country's main nuclear reactors. Temperatures at the nuclear plant rose to two degrees short of the point requiring an emergency shutdown. "The idea is to wet the reactor walls on the side that's most exposed to sunlight," Joseph Sanchez, the plant's assistant director, told AP. "We can't say if it works yet." In Germany, power company E.On said it had cut production at two of its nuclear power plants by up to 50 percent over the past few weeks due to concerns over high temperatures. Construction of a soccer stadium in Munich was stopped Monday because engineers feared that temperatures reaching 36C (97F) could cause cracks in the structure. At the same time, German authorities are advising people to cut back on strenuous exercise, with temperatures expected to reach a high of 40C (104F) Wednesday. Italians are braced for more hot weather as well, but they also facing power shortages as demand for air conditioning strains electricity supplies. Power cuts have hit Italy's biggest cities throughout the summer. Many of the outages have lasted for about an hour. In Britain, temperatures threatened to surpass the all-time record of 37.1C (99F), set in 1990. "It's going to be incredibly hot," Elizabeth Anett, of the Press Association's WeatherCentre, told AP. The heat has already prompted the country's rail network to impose speed restrictions on a wide range of lines due to the risk of rails buckling. Passengers have been warned of extended journey times. Speed limits were cut to 60 mph (100 km/h) from the more usual 90-120 mph and could go even lower. Animals are also feeling the effects of the heat wave. At the London Zoo, staff have been giving ice lollies with rosemary to the tigers to help cool them down -- a standard practice during hot summer days. Monkeys and bears are being fed fruit lollies. Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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