By C. Perera, JadeTimes News
According to a Bloomberg report on Friday, climate change is intensifying extreme weather globally, with violent storms in Texas and deadly heat in India being preceded by ten months of record high temperatures.
Europe has stayed away from such events in the past few weeks. For instance, Helsinki is the world’s second northernmost capital city, it has had temperature estimates of up to 30C (86F), more familiar with resorts around the Mediterranean. Europe will kick off summer cool and wet with a breezy outlook extending well into June before turning warmer later in the same month.
The previous year saw south east England preparing for hosepipe bans due to drought conditions. In contrast, this May saw heavy rains delay summer plantings across northwest Europe. However, there are emerging signs of increasing heat over eastern Mediterranean. The North Atlantic sea surface temperatures have reached their highest levels for at least four decades suggesting a hotter than usual summer ahead.
“We have again skewed our forecast towards much above normal for June compared to recent years as we take into account especially those warm anomalies that surround the continent.” Andrew Pedrini, meteorologist at Atmospheric G2 stated.
June is an important month for European energy traders who build up stocks prior to winter. Electric power consumption must be moderated during peak hours so that supply can match demand throughout days when most people are out of their homes or at work.