French Village Hits 114.6 Degrees, Setting New National Record

Last week Friday, the village of Gallargues-le-Montueux located in southern France outside of Montpellier topped 114.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the highest temperature ever recorded in continental France.

This photo, taken June 30, shows how badly crops 

were burnt and dried out by heat and sun in France's 

southern wine country.

That sweltering heat broke the previous record of 113.2 degrees, which was set just hours before in the village of Villevieille. And those weren’t the only hot spots. Brian Kahn at Earther reports that at least 12 weather stations in France detected temperatures above 111.4 degrees Fahrenheit, the previous hottest temperature set in 2003.

According to Agence-France Presse, the temperature spike makes France the seventh European nation to ever break the 113-degree-Fahrenheit mark, joining Bulgaria, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Greece and North Macedonia.

France was not the only nation dealing with extreme heat last week. Andorra, Luxembourg, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Germany all set record temperatures for the month of June. Germany lowered the speed limit on parts of the Autobahn, worried about buckling roads. And the heat set off the worst wildfires Spain has seen in 20 years with three major blazes burning throughout the nation. (One blaze started when improperly stored chicken manure combusted due to the heatwave.)

Read the story from the Smithsonian by Jason Daley - “French Village Hits 114.6 Degrees, Setting New National Record.” 

New temperature record set as France swelters through June heatwave

France has registered its highest temperature since records began as the death toll rose from a heatwave suffocating much of Europe.

As the mercury rises, Europeans are doing all they can to beat the heat.

The mercury hit 45.9 degrees Celsius in Villevieille, in the southerly Provence region, the weather forecaster Meteo France said, almost two degrees above the previous high of 44.1 Celsius recorded in August 2003.

The World Meteorological Organisation said that 2019 was on track to be among the world's hottest years, and that 2015-2019 would then be the hottest five-year period on record.

It said the European heatwave was "absolutely consistent" with extremes linked to the impact of greenhouse gas emissions.

Read the story from ABC News -  “New temperature record set as France swelters through June heatwave.”

Sydney hits its highest temperature recorded since 1939 with Penrith reaching 47.3C

Penrith in Sydney's west reaches a top of 47.3 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature recorded by a weather station in the Sydney metropolitan area in 79 years.

Sydneysiders are flocking to the beach to cope with the heat.

The temperature hit 47.3C at Penrith just after 3:00pm.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) early this afternoon said it had confirmed preliminary data and declared it was the highest temperature ever recorded by a weather station in the Sydney metropolitan area.

Read the ABC News story - “Sydney hits its highest temperature recorded since 1939 with Penrith reaching 47.3C.”