A New Heatwave is Forecast for Western Europe – Unseasonably High Temperatures develop under the Heat Dome as we head into October 2023
A New Heatwave is Forecast for Western Europe – Unseasonably High Temperatures develop under the Heat Dome as we head into October 2023
Hot autumn weather is forecast to extend across much of Europe into October. Another heatwave develops under the Heat Dome over the weekend.
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How's the air conditioning coverage over there?
For Germany it does not exist. Not even for most hospitals or homes for the elderly, which is a huge problem.
In Amsterdam/The Netherlands it's basically non existent in any of the older buildings. In newer construction it's becoming more common.
We live in in a an office building that I would guess was built some time in the last 15-20 years that has since been turned into apartments and we have some kind of radiant floor cooling/heating. It's not super strong but it's a hell of a lot better than my girlfriend's old ~1800s building with south facing windows. That little apartment turned into an oven in the summer.
south facing windows. That little apartment turned into an oven in the summer.
Can try something like this:
https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/home-window-solutions-us/solutions/temperature-control/
It's an infrared-reflective film you can put on your windows.
Or if you have the windows open, slatted shutters or a slatted screen.
I'm assuming that in the Netherlands, it's humid in summer, so probably can't use an evaporative cooler; that might be useful somewhere like Madrid.
Ah that's pretty cool. Fortunately we don't have that issue in our new place but I'd definitely keep that in mind if we moved somewhere not so ideal in the future
1 in 8 homes was the last data I saw but it feels every day like a rarity. Some trains, big market stores, and restaurants have it but not to a degree you could count on it.
I'm not in Europe, but I understand that it's fairly common in some southern areas, but overall much less common then the US. Air conditioning is apparently more common for offices and stores than for residences.
Rolling out more air conditioning in Europe may not be a terrible thing from the standpoint of electricity providers. As things stand, unlike the US, where peak electricity demand is in the summer (due to air conditioning), Europe's peak electricity demand is in winter, due to electricity-driven heating. Having more-even seasonal demand probably makes life easier for the grid.
All that being said, I believe that the article is talking about unseasonably warm temperatures for October -- which is not that hot -- not so much extremely hot summer temperatures. This may not be a "roll out air conditioning" sort of thing.
30 planned today in the north of France, it was already 25 at 12h, I dare you to say it's not that hot, especially for freaking October. Those aren't so bad in rural areas but in cities it tends to be quickly suffocating.
30 planned today in the north of France
That's 86°F. That's certainly warm, but I do 86°F without an air conditioner, though I'll probably have a fan on. I could see someone using an air conditioner then, sure, but that's not an extreme "I must have an air conditioner" temperature, either.
especially for freaking October.
That's my point. It's warm for the season, but being warm for the season isn't what drives air conditioner use, but being warm in absolute terms.
Go back to summer a couple years ago, and that's the kind of thing that will drive air conditioner rollouts:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/16/europe/france-temperature-record-heatwave-intl/index.html
Temperatures reached catastrophic levels in France in 2019, when Paris saw a record 42.6° C in July. According to the French Ministry of Health, 567 people died during a heatwave between June 24 and July 7 that year. A second heatwave that summer claimed the lives of another 868 people.
That's 108°F. That's the kind of thing that'll make air conditioners important, rather than a warm fall.
Never had 30 in a city have you ? In a full office without air conditioner ? Or a train ?
I live in a city, and where I live it gets up to around 40°C in summer.
Then we somehow aren't experiencing the same kind of summer if you think 30 isn't worthy of air conditioning, unlike most people here.
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Air conditioning for a bit over 20°C?
The reports seem to suggest it'll reach well above that?
Yes.