Tedros said climate change was to blame for the extreme weather and warned that Europe was warming “at twice the global average.”
“Due to climate change and global warming, ‘once-in-a-generation’ heatwave events are now occurring almost every year,” he said.
He called on European countries to “implement heat health action plans” as part of efforts to protect health in the face of climate change.
The extreme weather has led European authorities to take drastic measures to prevent heat-related illnesses.
On Thursday, Dutch music festival Defqon.1 was canceled due to an unprecedented code red warning for heatwaves.
In Paris, officials banned take-out alcohol in public places and canceled the city’s Pride march to help expand emergency services.
The ban began at noon local time on Friday ahead of the World Cup match between France and Norway and lasted until Sunday morning.
Interior Minister Laurent Núñez said at least 74 people have drowned in France since the heat wave began.
He told Le Parisien newspaper on Saturday that most of the deaths occurred in “unsupervised water bodies such as rivers, lakes and ponds.”
It is pointed out that the record-breaking heat wave in June was due to the so-called ‘heat dome’ phenomenon.
These weather patterns cause air to sink through the atmosphere, becoming compressed and heated when it hits the ground.
This sinking air also dries out and prevents clouds from forming, allowing strong sunlight to further heat the ground.
