Let’s be honest: European heatwaves are no joke right now. After spending all these weeks bracing against the blistering sunshine and trying to work through the hot weather, it feels refreshing and invigorating to be back on the Catalan seaside.

Three years ago, I walked on this exact stretch of beach in Cubelles — same boardwalk, same view of the Mediterranean stretching flat and blue toward the horizon. I remember staring at the water and reflecting on where I was and where I was going.

Coming back now, the town hasn’t changed much. The same beach restaurants are still serving the same food at lunch. My favorite ice cream parlor has done well, and now it’s even bigger.

And of course, while ordering some splendid “arroz negro” and chatting with a friendly waiter, I remembered why I always feel closest to home when I visit this country.

Today, I’m grateful I have the opportunity to visit this spot once more.

Last week I was strolling through the center of Basel in torrid heat, and when I looked at the clock at the intersection of Blumenrain and Spiegelgasse, I suddenly noticed that it read 37 degrees Celsius! It was then that I realized that in all the years I have lived in or visited Basel, I had never seen such high temperatures, and looking at historical values, that figure is certainly outside the norm.

This blistering reality in Basel is far from an isolated incident; it places Switzerland right at the epicenter of a historic, continent-wide climate anomaly. Across France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, temperatures have skyrocketed to levels between 5 and 12 degrees Celsius above seasonal averages.

This extreme event is being fueled by a powerful, static high-pressure system known as a "heat dome." Acting like a giant lid, it has trapped scorching air over Western Europe while simultaneously pulling an intense plume of hot air directly from the Sahara Desert. Under a relentless, cloudless sky, the ground has baked rapidly, supercharging local temperatures.

Climate scientists looking at this record-breaking week have noted that while the wind patterns themselves are a natural summer occurrence, the sheer intensity of the heat has been massively amplified by the long-term baseline effects of global warming, turning a standard summer hot spell into an unprecedented, dangerous furnace.

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Cubelles, a beautiful Catalan coastal town near Barcelona. I hit the jackpot when I found an apartment right on the beach! My time there was pure bliss; I spent almost every day soaking up the sea and cooling off in the waves.

But every time I watch the news, I realize how lucky I was to spend my days there during the heat wave that is hitting Europe. There are raging fires in many places in southern Europe, and places where the summer is not usually that hot, like the UK, are experiencing record temperatures.

No comments. The climate change problem is already here :/