Temperatures of up to 45 degrees are sweeping across southwestern Europe and will remain there for the next week. Warm air pumped up from the Sahara forms a heat dome - and the zone between cold air in the north and warm air in the south is favorable for low pressure to form over the Atlantic. It then moves in over Scandinavia and Sweden. It is therefore unlikely that next week's heat wave will manage to reach Sweden.
No, there will be some puffs of warm air between the low-pressure areas. But it will be short-lived and not as extreme, says Torbjörn Simann.
Stubborn extreme heat
In southern Europe, however, the extreme heat is taking hold.
Spain will temporarily cool down a bit over the weekend before the heat wave sets in again, climbing above 40 degrees in many places. The southern parts of France are also set to reach 40 degrees next week.
In Italy it will be a little cooler, but above 35 degrees, as well as around the entire Mediterranean area.
Temperatures of 40–45 degrees have occurred on many occasions in Europe before, but this year the heat waves are sticking around for a particularly long time, according to Torbjörn Simann.
It's a very stubborn heat.
Makes the weather unstable
Will it become more common for a heat wave over Europe to cause low pressure over Sweden?
Yes, partly, but it's not enough of a factor. We need to have a little cooler air over the Arctic as well, like now. Together, that makes the weather more unstable for us.
