Record high temperatures scorch globe as Europe prepares for heatwave peak

Europe has braced for new high temperatures under a relentless heatwave and wildfires that have scorched swathes of the Northern Hemisphere.

Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent and is expecting the peak of the current heatwave to hit Italy's islands of Sicily and Sardinia on Tuesday, where a high of 48 degrees Celsius has been forecast by the European Space Agency.

The previous European temperature record was 48.8 degrees Celsius recorded in Sicily in 2021, according to the UN weather agency.

Meanwhile, near Athens, emergency services battled wildfires for a second day in several locations. Several homes were burned in the area, according to footage from public broadcaster ERT.

A forest fire flared in strong winds by the popular beach town of Loutraki, where the mayor said 1,200 children had been evacuated from holiday camps.

"The extreme weather... is having a major impact on human health, ecosystems, economies, agriculture, energy and water supplies," said World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.

"This underlines the increasing urgency of cutting greenhouse gas emissions as quickly and as deeply as possible."

Historic highs, torrential rains

In Europe, Italians were warned to prepare for "the most intense heatwave of the summer and also one of the most intense of all time" as temperatures hit a near-record 39 degrees Celsius in Rome on Monday.

It was already the world's hottest June on record, according to the EU weather monitoring service, and July looks set to break records as well.

Spain enjoyed little reprieve, with temperatures of 44.7 degrees Celsius reported on Monday in the southern town of Jaen.

Global leadership

Meanwhile, parts of Asia have baked in record temperatures, triggering torrential rain.

China reported a new high for mid-July in the northwest of the country, where temperatures reached 52.2 degrees Celsius in the Xinjiang region's village of Sanbao, breaking the previous high of 50.6 degrees Celsius set six years ago.

Heatstroke alerts had been issued in 32 of Japan's 47 prefectures, mainly in central and southwestern regions.

A quarter million people were evacuated in southern China and Vietnam before a major typhoon roared ashore late Monday, bringing fierce winds and rain and forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and trains.

US climate envoy John Kerry held talks with Chinese officials in Beijing, as the world's two largest polluters revive stalled diplomacy on reducing planet-warming emissions.

Speaking at Beijing's Great Hall of the People with China's top diplomat Wang Yi on Tuesday, Kerry underlined the need for "global leadership" on climate issues.

Oppressive US heat

In western and southern US states, which are used to high temperatures, more than 80 million people were under advisories as a "widespread and oppressive" heatwave roasted the region.

California's Death Valley, often among the hottest places on Earth, reached a near-record 52 degrees Celsius Sunday afternoon.

In Arizona, state capital Phoenix tied its record of 18 consecutive days above 43 degrees Celsius, as temperatures hit 45 degrees Celsius early Monday afternoon.

The US National Weather Service predicts similar highs at least through Sunday, while warning of overnight lows remaining dangerously elevated, above 32 degrees Celsius.

In southern California, several wildfires have ignited over the past few days in rural areas east of Los Angeles. The biggest, named the Rabbit Fire, had burned nearly 32.4 kilometres squared on Monday morning, according to authorities.

In neighbouring Canada, 882 wildfires were active on Monday, including 579 considered out of control, authorities said.

Smoke from the fires has descended on the United States again, prompting air quality alerts across much of the northeast.