Germany set its all-time highest June temperature on Sunday, with 38.9 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) recorded in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The country has been baking in an early summer heat wave; however, Germany's all-time high of 40.3 degrees Celsius still stands.

Fifty-seven runners at Hamburg's half marathon were hospitalized on Sunday after many collapsed in temperatures of up to 35 degrees Celsius, officials said. Some 141 runners needed treatment in what fire service officials described as "an emergency with mass casualties."

Temperatures in the country's central Rhine-Main region and into eastern Germany were expected to reach up to 39 degrees on Sunday, according to the German Weather Service (DWD).

Organizers of Sunday's Frankfurt Ironman event made contingency plans to keep athletes from overheating.

As huge crowds gathered in Paris for the annual gay pride parade, firefighters sprayed water on revelers, some of whom used rainbow-colored fans and umbrellas to counter the heat, which was expected to hit 38 degrees.

Heat-related deaths have been reported in Germany and France, mainly among the elderly. At least eight people drowned in bathing accidents across the two countries.

Pope's prayers

France's new record temperature of 45.9 degrees was set on Friday near the southern city of Montpellier, the Meteo-France weather service said. It is just the seventh European nation — along with Bulgaria, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Greece and North Macedonia — to record temperatures above 45 degrees.

During Sunday prayers in Rome, Pope Francis said he was praying "for those who have suffered the most from the consequences of this heat."

Meteorologists blamed a blast of hot air from northern Africa for the scorching early European summer, but temperatures are set to drop for the remainder of the week over much of Europe.

Read more: Climate change a threat to tourism in Spain

Drownings and wildfires

The heatwave sparked large blazes including in Spain, where firefighters on Saturday fought wildfires just as they finally contained another inferno after nearly 72 hours.

Wildfires burned down several houses and at least 550 hectares (1,359 acres) of land in the south of France as temperatures hit upwards of 45 degrees on Saturday.

The blistering heat also claimed the lives of a 17-year-old harvest worker in Spain and a 72-year-old homeless man in Italy.

Balcony collapse

In Stuttgart, six people were injured when their balcony collapsed. A group had filled a paddling pool on their apartment balcony to help escape from the heat.

However the overloaded structure collapsed, and people between the ages of 21 and 54 slipped four metres (13 feet) to the ground.

Just wild weather or climate disruption? 'Rossby waves' unlock weather puzzle? "Breakthrough" insights into atmospheric dynamics are emerging from "high-maths" —scrutiny of satellite data, say scientists. Their Nature magazine article identifies "significant connections" between extreme rain events, often far apart. Their premise: global rainfall distribution stems "probably" from planetary waves named after the late Swedish-born American meteorologist Carl-Gustaf Rossby.

Just wild weather or climate disruption? Deluged in Townsville, Queensland Normally, monsoon rains over northern Queensland last a "few days," says Australia's Bureau of Meteorology. Unprecedented downpours began a week ago, with more forecast and troops sent to a disaster zone. Evacuations have included these residents of Rossela, near Townsville, and German and Swiss tourists plucked from the Diamantina River catchment by a local farmer using his private helicopter.

Just wild weather or climate disruption? Tasmania scorched, wildfires Wildfires have scorched swaths of Tasmania, offshore from continental Australia's Victoria state, where residents last month faced a record heat wave. Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) blames the trend partly on record-warm southern Tasman Sea temperatures that have blocked rain-bearing cold weather fronts. These flow normally west-to-east under Australia toward New Zealand.

Just wild weather or climate disruption? Denuded California braces for Pacific storm Its hills denuded by recent drought-induced wildfires, California's central coast braced Saturday for another Pacific storm, with heavy rainfalls forecast. Santa Barbara County ordered evacuations from areas still clogged by past fire debris. Avalanche warnings were in place on the Sierra Nevada, loaded with snow from storms in January.

Just wild weather or climate disruption? Chicago thawing The US Midwest, including Chicago, is thawing after a sudden two-day arctic vortex chill. At least 18 people died. Normally, the icy air mass swirling over the darkened North Pole during the winter stays ringed by the polar jet stream at about 60 degrees north. Stream weakening was also behind the prolonged 2018 European summer drought, according to Potsdam's PIK climate institute.

Just wild weather or climate disruption? Monsoon rains, Indonesia Indonesia, like much of Asia, weathers annual monsoon rains. Last Tuesday, the Sulawesi islands counted its toll: at least 70 people were killed as rivers burst their banks and landslides buried village homes. Authorities said a state of emergency would remain in place until February 6. Author: Ian P. Johnson



kw/jlw (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)

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