Extreme heat breaks records worldwide: 42.5°C in South Korea, red alerts across Italy and the US
When thermometers show 46 degrees in Las Vegas, 42.5 in South Korea and 40 in Japan, while British meteorologists report the driest July since 1836, the climate crisis ceases to be an abstraction – it becomes everyday reality. The planet is literally gasping under the heat, and heatwaves are covering not just one region but several continents at once. Europe, North America, the Middle East and East Asia – all have found themselves in the same climate crucible, where every new degree is a test for infrastructure, healthcare and human endurance itself. And if record temperatures used to seem like exceptions, they are now becoming the rule.
On Monday, Italy issued red heat alerts in 25 of its 27 largest cities – the highest level declared by the Health Ministry – as temperatures across much of the country approached 40 degrees Celsius. The current heat is expected to last at least until Friday. Health authorities urged people to limit outdoor activities and avoid prolonged exposure to high temperatures and direct sunlight.
The extreme weather also highlighted unusually dry conditions in Britain. Preliminary Met Office data showed that July rainfall across the country was 35 percent of the long-term average, making this July the third driest on record. Southern England received just 1.9 millimetres of rain, or 3 percent of the average July rainfall, making it the driest July since records began in 1836.
Heat warnings also remained in effect in parts of the western United States, including California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah. In Las Vegas, temperatures reached 46 degrees Celsius on Saturday, the highest this year. Egypt is bracing for another period of intense heat, with daytime highs forecast to range from 41 to 44 degrees Celsius in the Nile Delta and Greater Cairo, and above 45 degrees in parts of Upper Egypt to the south.
In East Asia, South Korea was set to activate its highest-level heat warning on Tuesday at 11:00 local time for Seoul, parts of the surrounding Gyeonggi Province and parts of South Jeolla Province in the southwest. The warning followed a temperature of 42.5 degrees Celsius recorded on Sunday in Yangsan, a city in the southeast – the highest temperature ever recorded in South Korea since records began in 1904. Yangsan saw temperatures exceed 40 degrees for five consecutive days.
Japan also reported temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius on Monday on Kyushu, its main southwestern island. Dazaifu in Fukuoka Prefecture recorded 40.2 degrees, while Saga city recorded 40.1 degrees. Japan had already recorded temperatures of no less than 40 degrees for five consecutive days from 21 to 25 July, the longest such streak since comparable records began in 2010.
According to the World Meteorological Organization, extreme heat is one of the deadliest natural phenomena, and its intensity is directly linked to climate change. European countries are stepping up urban cooling action plans, including creating "green corridors" and installing air-conditioning systems in public buildings. However, as experts warn, current heatwaves could become the norm within decades, and adapting to them will require not only technology but also changes in the daily lives of millions of people.
As CCTV+ reports, the record heat that has gripped four continents is yet another reminder that the climate crisis will not wait, and countries that fail to adapt risk facing human and economic losses measured not in degrees but in lives and billions of dollars.
