It was 35.4 C in London today (96?)which is the hottest ever recorded there.
Florence 40C
Lisbon 38C
Uncontrolled fires in Spain, Portugal and Italy
Rails buckling in Switzerland.
This has been going on for weeks.

Why is it so hot in Europe? Global warming?

That's what you get for drinking tea in the middle of the afternoon. All that steam goes right into the atmosphere you know. Sooner or later things are gonna heat up.

You mentioned that "rails are buckling in Switzerland". Does anyone have any idea where to check the status on railines, or would the Swill rail site have updates?

There was a single incident of "rails buckling" in Switzerland (between Zurich and Lucerne). The rails have been replaced overnight and service has resumed. Given the heat, similar incidents may happen.

You may want to check the Swiss railway website at:
http://www.rail.ch/index_e.htm.

There are also English sections on the sites of several major newspapers e.g.:
http://www.nzz.ch or
http://www.baz.ch

Hope this helps.

Phil.

Queenie, According to the BBC news tonight, a scientist oddbod said yes, the hot weather is due to global warming. And it will get worse over the years, apparently - he said we gotta get used to it!

Heres AOLs report on the heatwave:

BRITAIN experienced its hottest day for 13 years today - and the temperature fell just short of being Britain's hottest day yet, weather forecasters said.

But the record may still be broken on Saturday as temperatures continue to soar.

The highest temperature recorded today was 35.9C (96.6F) at Gravesend in Kent, nudging the record 37.1C (98.8F) set at Cheltenham on August 3, 1990.

It was also the hottest day in central London for 46 years with a top temperature of 35.1C (95F) recorded by the London Weather Centre.

But the record for the hottest day in this country's history is still under threat, weathermen said.

With no sign of relief from the heatwave, temperatures are set to peak again on Saturday.

Yesterday's year-best temperature of 34.3C (93F), recorded on Jersey, was smashed by the heat in the South East and central London.

Temperatures also soared across Britain with Birmingham recording 31C (88F), Manchester 24C (75F), Liverpool 26C (79F), Glasgow 27C (81F) and Cardiff 24C (75F).

Weather experts are now looking to later in the week when more records may tumble.

"It is going to be extremely hot on Saturday, with warm winds coming up from the Mediterranean,'' PA WeatherCentre forecaster Paul Mott said.

"It looks like the temperature could top 36C (97F) and possibly even beat the all-time record.''

Sun-lovers packed parks, beaches and pools across the nation in an attempt to cool down.

The London Eye had to shut "for the comfort of guests'' while police handed out water to motorists stranded in tailbacks after a motorway crash in Berkshire.

And there was more misery for rail passengers already hit by speed restrictions.

The heat caused fears that more steel rails may buckle prompting widespread delays and cancellations.

I hear real estate prices in Greenland have skyrocketed.

I doubt that global warming is to blame since the heat wave is not global. My home state of Colorado has had fewer extremely hot days than in the past several summers. I guess it all averages out.

Also, I recall a recent Scientific American article that mentioned that the most significant temperature increases are largely concentrated at night, during the winter, and at relatively high latitudes. This would suggest that global warming is not the cause of high daytime summer temperatures in most of Europe.

Look, it's simply your turn. We had the summer of 1988, and now it's your time to deal.

Queenie, is it true you "glistened" today? And will water ever fall on the British Empire and cool it off?

BC

Actually, what the European climatologists are suggesting is that global warming will lead to more extreme weather events...i.e., floods (as in last year), heat (like this year), typhoons, etc. And it has been very hot in other places in the world...India has had a terrible summer. Western Canada has been hot and dry.
I wouldn't bet that this is man-made global warming, but I also wouldn't bet that it isn't.

The "cause" of the "most" anything (elevated temperature, inches of rainfall, snow days in a row, you name it) - - in "recorded history"...

... is the practice of recording history.

Best wishes,

Rex

Just a comment... western U.S.A. is also experiencing extreme heat & drought. Western Canada has some of the worst out-of-control forest fires happening with no signs of rain relief.

Guess it's "everywhere"...

Let's say we had 50 years with a higher than usual number of "extremes" - - then we had 50 years with fewer than usual "extremes. Would both periods qualify as "global climatic change"? And wouldn't it be possible to take the view that both "changes" are "bad"?

Glass half full, glass half empty...

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0806-01.htm

The London Eye is closed due to heat. Rail and tube traffic is crawling in many places.

In Germany, trains are having problems with air conditioning, especially the ICE trains which don't have windows that can be opened.

Here in Brussels, we caught a break this morning. Heavy cloud cover and even some light rain kept the temps reasonable until noon. But then the sun burned through and the temps quickly shot up. Also, as the days stay hot, the evening lows go up, so the days feel cumulatively hotter.

Still, it could be worse. A hundred years ago, a horrible summer like this with crops scorched and little feed for animals (in France, farmers in the blistering Loire Valley are having to feed their animals their winter stocks of straw) would mean famine in the winter.

No it's not a question of 'your turn now'. Typical American response. (It aint't us). The fact that there was an abnormal weather 'event' 100 years ago is neither here nor there. The point is that these are becoming increasingly frequent. But, of course, it has nothing to do with the crap that the US lifestyle pumps out into the atmosphere ? What is the statistic? 15% of the planet's population consumes 80% of the planet's resources? Correct me please - I am sure these figures are out of date. But exact percentages won't alter the picture - will they?

When is the USA going to ratify that smallest of moves - the Kyoto protocol? Hey - is anyone there!!!

Hi Alice,

Please do calm down. It was meant as a joke.

The world was warm enough for the Vikings to colonize Greenland 1000 years ago. It then cooled down to a "mini ice age" in the 15 - 1600's.

The world has been warming for over 300 years.

You might also recall the great ice age of 25000 years ago.

From this week's NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/inter...er-europe.html

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/inte...Heat-Wave.html

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/inter...er-europe.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/06/in...pe/06EURO.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/05/in...5CND-EURO.html

The heat wave is caused by heat coming off the Sahara.

I read something similar in our paper yesterday: apparently there is extreme rainfull in the Sub-Saharan region, causing weather patterns to move north by some 200 kilometers or so, which means that we in Northern Europe (Holland) are getting summer weather that people would normally have in Sourthern Italy or Spain!