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The heatwave affecting southern Europe has been building for months. And it’s about to get much worse.

Temperatures have been consistently above 40C since mid-April in many areas.

Europe heatwave – latest: Continent could have hottest day ever

But on the Mediterranean islands of Sicily and Sardinia they’re expected to climb to 48C in the coming days, and could even break the continent‘s record of 48.8C set in August 2021.

And those are just air temperatures. New data shows the ground is even hotter.

The European Space Agency’s heat-sensing satellite Copernicus detected land surface temperatures have already exceeded 45C across large areas of Italy (shown as dark red on ESA’s animation).

Pic: European Space Agency
Image:
Land surface temperature in Italy. Pic: European Space Agency

Along the eastern slopes of Mount Etna, the volcano on Sicily, the sun-baked earth passed 50C on 9 and 10 July.

And that was in the late morning. The temperature would have been even higher in the afternoon – and likely hotter still as the heatwave has intensified through the week.

Read more: Why is Europe being hit by the Cerberus heatwave and when will it end?

The ground temperature matters.

In rural areas it raises the risk of wildfires because the vegetation dries out faster.

And in urban areas, concrete, brick and road surfaces retain the heat overnight so the air doesn’t cool as much as in the surrounding countryside.

It’s called the heat island effect and it raises the risk of vulnerable people dying.

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Southern Europe hit by heatwaves

So why is the heat so intense?

Heatwaves are natural events of course. In this instance warm air has pushed north from the Sahara in Africa.

But heatwaves are becoming more common, they’re lasting longer and peak temperatures are getting higher.

A woman cools down on Syntagma Square, in front of the parliament building, during a heatwave in Athens, Greece, July 13, 2023. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas
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A woman cools down in Athens, Greece

Read more:
Cerberus heatwave: Man ‘collapses and dies’ and people faint

Long-lasting heatwave grips continent
Extreme heat killed more than 60,000 people in Europe last year

That’s the effect of the rising background temperature from climate change, up around 1.2C since pre-industrial times, and extreme weather patterns becoming locked in place.

Higher-than-normal water temperatures in the Mediterranean are also pumping additional heat into the surrounding air, like an enormous radiator.

This year is on track to be a scorcher. Preliminary data from satellites suggests the Earth had its hottest three days on record earlier this month.

Click to subscribe to ClimateCast with Tom Heap wherever you get your podcasts

The impact of the El Nino weather pattern in the Pacific, which results in extra heat being released by the ocean into the atmosphere, has yet to ripple around the planet.

But it will over the coming months and it’s expected to temporarily add another 0.2C to the global background temperature.

This year is hot, but 2024 could be hotter still.

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Spanish defence minister’s jet suffers GPS disturbance near Russian enclave

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Spanish defence minister's jet suffers GPS disturbance near Russian enclave

A Spanish military jet with a defence minister on board suffered a GPS “disturbance” while on the way to Lithuania, according to Spanish officials.

The military aircraft was flying near Russia’s Kaliningrad enclave on Wednesday morning when the incident is reported to have happened.

Margarita Robles was the minister on the flight, according to Spanish officials.

A commander onboard the Spanish plane said such incidents are common when flying near Kaliningrad, both for civil and military aircraft – and military satellites could also be used to navigate.

A Spanish defence ministry spokesperson said: “There has been an attempt to disrupt the GPS signal, but as our aircraft has an encrypted system, it was not affected.

“It must be common on this route and also with commercial flights. It is not because it is our aircraft.”

Read more: Who is messing with GPS signals – and why?

Ms Robles was due to have a bilateral meeting with her Lithuanian counterpart Dovile Sakaliene during a visit to the Siauliai airbase on Wednesday, according to the Spanish government’s agenda.

The plane was also carrying relatives of Spanish airmen forming part of the new NATO air defence mission on Europe’s eastern flank.

It was launched earlier this month after Poland shot down drones that had violated its airspace.

The Spanish contingent last week intercepted eight Russian aircraft operating over the Baltic Sea, Spain’s defence ministry added in a statement.

Ms Robles, 68, has been Spain’s defence minister since 2018.

In June, she said Spain was “absolutely committed” to NATO and the European Union.

Read more from Sky News:
Kremlin responds after Trump’s ‘big shift’ – UN latest updates
Farage criticised for failing to ‘stand up to idol’ Trump

Ursula von der Leyen speaks in Lithuania on 1 September. Pic: AP
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Ursula von der Leyen speaks in Lithuania on 1 September. Pic: AP

Then in August, the minister said Spain would work to “invigorate” the European fighter jet project, known as FCAS.

It came after Spain revealed it was no longer considering the option of buying US-made F-35 fighter jets and would refocus its defence spending on buying European-made equipment.

At the end of August, a plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suffered GPS jamming as a result of suspected Russian interference, an EU spokesperson told Sky News.

Estonia and neighbouring Finland have also previously blamed Russia for jamming GPS navigation devices in the region’s airspace.

Russia has denied interfering with communication and satellite networks.

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Israel kills 22 people including 9 children in ‘horrific massacre’ in Gaza, Palestinian officials say

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Israel kills 22 people including 9 children in 'horrific massacre' in Gaza, Palestinian officials say

Israel killed 22 people – including nine children – in strikes on Gaza City today, Palestinian officials say.

Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal described the killings as a “horrific massacre”.

Video purportedly from the scene of the attack on the Souq Firas area of the city showed the bodies of children being pulled from the rubble.

A total of 51 people have been killed across Gaza today, according to hospital medics in the Hamas-run territory.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, said the oxygen station at Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza had stopped operating “due to Israeli occupation forces firing at it”.

“Operations are currently being conducted using pre-filled oxygen cylinders, which are sufficient for only three days,” the group said.

“Occupation forces are currently stationed at the southern gate of the society’s Al-Quds Hospital in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza City, preventing anyone from entering or leaving the hospital.”

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China and Hong Kong brace for super typhoon after 14 killed in Taiwan – with 129 missing

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China and Hong Kong brace for super typhoon after 14 killed in Taiwan - with 129 missing

At least 14 people have been killed in an area of Taiwan popular with tourists after Super Typhoon Ragasa lashed the island nation, with Hong Kong and mainland China braced for impact.

The powerful storm – the strongest in years – has forced thousands to flee their homes, with flights cancelled and schools and businesses shuttered as about 70cm (28 inches) of rain has fallen on eastern areas.

At least four more people were reported to have been killed in the Philippines, where nearly 700,000 people were affected by the super typhoon in the main northern region of Luzon.

The deaths in Taiwan were reported in the eastern Taiwanese county of Hualien, which is popular with tourists.

At least 129 people are missing after a town, Guangfu, was flooded by a deluge from a barrier lake which burst its banks on Tuesday afternoon.

Around 60 million tonnes of water was released, the Taiwanese government said, the equivalent of a major reservoir in southern Taiwan.

A man stands near a military vehicle on a road filled with mud brought by flooding in Hualien, Taiwan. Pic: Reuters
Image:
A man stands near a military vehicle on a road filled with mud brought by flooding in Hualien, Taiwan. Pic: Reuters

Taiwan’s fire department said all the fatalities and missing people are from Guangfu.

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One resident, a postman who gave his family name as Hsieh, told Reuters news agency the water hit like a “tsunami” which swept his car into his living room.

Late on Wednesday morning, a new flood warning sounded in Guangfu, where shouts were heard from residents and rescuers of “the flood waters are coming, run fast”.

Elsewhere, Dama, a village of around 1,000 people, has been completely flooded.

Its chieftain, Wang Tse-an, told Reuters many locals are still stranded there, adding: “It’s chaotic now. There are mud and rocks everywhere.”

Regions across Taiwan have sent at least 340 soldiers to Hualien to help rescue efforts.

In Guangfu, troops operating from an armoured personnel carrier to avoid the thick mud on the streets went door-to-door
handing out water and instant noodles.

Ragasa is set to hit China’s Guangdong province, where more than 370,000 residents have been evacuated, on Wednesday.

Hong Kong’s storm level is at its highest level of 10 as people reported being woken by fierce winds in the early hours.

Parts of a pedestrian bridge’s roof were blown away, hundreds of trees were knocked down across the city and more than 30 injured people were treated at hospitals.

A video that showed waves of water crashing through the doors of a hotel and flooding its interiors went viral in the financial hub, where warnings of hurricane-force winds of well over 120mph have been issued.

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