Weather tracker: Europe and China in midst of record-breaking heat

Temperatures over 40C recorded in Portugal and Spain, while China endures heatwave conditions in high 40s

Temperature records for early June are being broken across large parts of Europe, with the mercury reaching 40.5C (104.9F) in Mértola, Portugal, on Sunday. On the same day, several weather stations in Spain recorded temperatures in excess of 42C, with dozens of sites at record levels for early summer. Across the Balkans, temperatures reached 37C. On Monday, 37.6C was recorded in Tirana, Albania, while in Greece night-time minimum temperatures have stayed mostly over 30C for much of this week.

Hot conditions are to intensify across central and western Europe over the next few days, with temperatures across large parts of France, Benelux, Italy and west Germany expected to reach the low to mid 30s celsius. Highs of up to 35C are expected in Paris on Friday, with up to 38C forecast in Rome. Conditions will ease somewhat, but a heatwave will soon develop across Iberia, with Madrid expected to reach the high-30s celsius each day next week.

Meanwhile, parts of China have also been in the midst of brutal heatwave conditions. Temperatures in northern China rose to 46.8C on Sunday at Mangxiaohu in Xinjiang province. Temperatures also hit 45.5C in Toksun. China’s meteorological authority issued the first high temperature heatstroke alert for the year at the start of the week, issuing yellow alerts for large parts of the country. The national college entrance examinations are taking place and forecasters have urged students to take precautions to protect against the heat.

By Monday, temperatures across the north of the country had risen further, with the city of Turpan in Xinjiang reaching 44.8C, while the weather station at Mangxiaohu reached 47.1C. It follows one of the warmest springs on record: China’s average temperature for the March-May period was 11.8C, the fourth highest in history. Temperature records were broken at nearly 300 weather stations.

In Canada, the military were forced to evacuate a remote Indigenous group on Monday as wildfires spread. More than 3m hectares (7.4m acres) of forests and hundreds of buildings have been destroyed so far this year. The wildfires moved from the Prairies region into Ontario, the country’s most populous province, and continue to rage.

Cover photo:  People sheltering under umbrellas during hot weather in Seville, Spain. Photograph: David Arjona/EPA