Switzerland on alert as European heatwave persists

World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) announced Friday that the heatwave affecting parts of Western, Central and Eastern Europe since June 27 will continue unabated over the coming days, reports China's Xinhua news agency.

According to WMO, the European heatwave is a typical not only for its early arrival in the summer period, but also because of its extensive geographical reach.

Many countries and regions have witnessed abnormally high temperatures, such as in parts of the Iberian Peninsula (43 degrees Celcius) where the heatwave began, areas of France (40 degrees Celcius), Germany (38 degrees Celcius), Italy and England (36 degrees Celcius).

Given the consistently high temperatures raging across much of Europe combined with prevailing dry conditions, parallels with the 2003 heatwave which killed some 70,000 people are being drawn, though WMO highlighted that Europe is much better prepared in terms of heat-health action plans.

In light of these severe weather trends, Switzerland's Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (Meteoswiss) has issued a level 4 alert (out of a maximum of 5) for the coming days, while Western Poland has also been placed on red alert.

On the other side of the spectrum, while South and Central Europe continue to suffer from extreme temperatures, Northern Europe is experiencing one of its coolest summer beginnings on record.

Meteoswiss recommends avoiding physical efforts, while trying to keep cool and drinking at least 1.5 liters of water a day to reduce the risk of experiencing heatstroke.