Wednesday 25 July 2018

Germany is the latest country to be hit by global heatwave with damaged roads and devastated crops with higher temperatures still to come

Photo thelocal.de
The heat wave has shut down Hanover airport, damaged roads and devastated crops, with higher temperatures still to come.
In AC-starved Germany, experts are warning people to heed the heat and even go home early from work.
Germany braced itself Wednesday for sweltering temperatures that could reach up to 36 degrees Celsius (96.8 Fahrenheit) in some places.
On Tuesday, temperatures peaked at 35.9 degrees in the northern town of Lingen, with little relief overnight as temperatures in several large cities hovered around 20 degrees.
"It cooled down a bit last night - although, 'cooled down' is a bit of an overstatement," a spokesperson for the German Meteorological Office (DWD) told news agency DPA.
The DWD has issued heat warnings for most areas of Germany on Wednesday, excluding some areas in Bavaria and eastern Germany.
As climate change continues to impact the environment, scientists have warned that Germany's unusually hot summer could soon become the norm.
Hanover airport resumed flights early on Wednesday morning after temporarily shutting down due to damage caused by the heat.
Planes landing in the high temperatures damaged several areas on the tarmac, prompting the airport to halt all flights on Tuesday evening.
An airport spokesman said 41 departures and 44 arrivals were affected by the delays.
The heat is also causing headaches for travellers on Germany's highways.
Since the high temperatures can cause concrete slabs on the roads to break, authorities have placed a speed limit of 80 kph (50 mph) on sections of the A7 and the A81 near the southern cities of Stuttgart and Ulm.
Health and weather experts are warning people to stay hydrated and keep cool as possible in air conditioning.
Most homes, offices and schools in Germany do not have air conditioning.
Under extreme heat situations, students and employees are sometimes allowed to leave work and school early to cool down as much as possible at home.
Andreas Matzarakis, a medical meteorologist with the DWD, urged workers to take those opportunities and the heat warnings seriously.
"If your employer allows flexible working hours, try starting work early in the morning and go home in the afternoon in order to spend fewer hot hours in the office," Matzarakis wrote in an article for the newspapers of the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland.

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