Europe heatwave creates travel chaos and disruption

Friday, July 15, 2022

The heatwave in all European cities is affecting travel and tourism industry. Most of the holidaymakers have cancelled their trips and due to the summer travel chaos major airlines are cancelling their flight schedules, due to staff shortage. While on the contrary, the rail strike is affecting most of travel. The travel disruption is happened everywhere.

The hot weather is equally dangerous to holidaymakers and especially baby boomers. The United Kingdom, France, Portugal and Spain mostly are experiencing severe heatwave at the moment. US is also experiencing heat wave and rise in temperature.The sweltering temperature force the civic government to issue travel warnings to travellers due to extreme weather.

The soaring temperatures have also swept across Europe, with droughts and forest fires being caused by the scorching heat in Portugal and Spain as well as France. This has led to hundreds of people desperately trying to save their homes and animals. Algarve is also experiencing wildfire and the holidaymakers are evacuated.

The extreme temperatures look set to continue as an air mass pushing up from the south will bring even more heat to Spain, Portugal, France and the UK in the next few days.

Spain

The extreme heat being experienced in Spain is unusual as it is affecting the whole country. This is common for high temperatures to be recorded in Spain during the summer months of June, July and August, but this is usually in central and southern areas of the country. The Northern Spain, which usually avoids the very high temperatures, is also being hit by extreme heat right now. Amber and red weather warnings have been put in place across the country. In Spain, at least 1,500 hectares have been destroyed by a fire in Las Hurdes in Extremadura, western Spain, which has led to the evacuation of about 400 residents.

France

France is also experiencing extreme heatwave and the temperatures are in the low 30 degreeC in places such as Paris, Lyon, Nantes and Bordeaux. The temperatures are also set to peak on Thursday 14 July in France, where they may reach 39C in some areas of the south-west according to French national meteorological service Météo France.

The heatwave is predicted to last between eight and 10 days, and although temperatures are expected to continue to rise they are not predicted to break records as in other European countries.

Portugal

Portugal is also experiencing the heatwave and the wildfire. The firefighters are currently at the scene of several more fires in Portugal. A total of 300 people had to be evacuated on Tuesday 12 July when flames swept across Portugal’s central region. Elsewhere in the country, several major fires burning over the weekend have now been extinguished or brought under control, though not before consuming thousands of hectares of forest.

The tourism is already being affected in the country too, even in areas which have not been affected directly by fires. In the popular tourist destination of Sintra, near Lisbon, the national palace, castle and other attractions are closed by government order. There are also concerns among locals that two big events which were due to take place in the coming days may have to be cancelled.

A music festival is scheduled to take place from Thursday 14 July to Saturday 16 July near the beach at Meco, in Sesimbra, south of Lisbon, while a motorbike rally in the Algarve, which is one of Europe’s largest, was due to take place from Thursday to Sunday 17 July.

« Back to Page

• Airbus Helicopters and GDAT Forge Alliance: Agreement for 20 H175 Helicopters

• InterContinental Hotels Group & Resorts Accelerates Expansion in India set to Double Presence with 100 New Hotels in Five Years

• Jet Set Go! Ryanair Launches 24-Hour Flash Sale: 20% Off on Spring Escapes Across Europe

• Travel with PLAY Airlines for Budget-Friendly Flight Trips Between North America and Europe

• New Schengen visa rules: Will these help Indian travel vloggers?