Warm air from Africa compressed in a dome: The ‘Omega block’ that’s causing Europe heatwave
Western Europe is in the grip of an early-summer heatwave that has shut schools, triggered red alerts across four countries and killed dozens of people. People cool off in the Trocadero fountain in front of the Eiffel Tower as temperatures rise in Paris during a heatwave affecting a large part of France. REUTERS/Abdul Saboor (REUTERS) France has linked more than 40 deaths to the heatwave, most of them drownings, as people sought relief in rivers, lakes and the sea. Temperatures have crossed 40°C in France and Spain, while Britain has issued a rare red heat warning — only the second in its history — for parts of central and southern England. Meteorologists trace the cause to a weather pattern called an ‘omega block’. Unpicking how it works explains why this heatwave is intense and why different parts of Europe are experiencing it so differently. The block The Omega block pattern takes its name from its resemblance to the Greek letter Ω: a bulge of warm, high-pressure air held between two pockets of cooler, low-pressure air, …
