France does not commonly have very hot summers, particularly in the northern areas,
[6] but seven days with temperatures of more than 40 °C (104 °F) were recorded in
Auxerre,
Yonne between July and August 2003. Because of the usually relatively mild summers, most people did not know how to react to very high temperatures (for instance, with respect to
rehydration), and most single-family homes and residential facilities built in the last 50 years were not equipped with
air conditioning. Furthermore, while there were contingency plans for a variety of natural and man-made catastrophes, high temperatures had never been considered a major hazard.
IN Portugal temperatures reached as high as 48 °C (118 °F)
The highest temperature during the heat wave was recorded in Cyprus.
In the capital, Nicosia, temperatures unofficially exceeded 57 °C (135 °F).
Many people reported such temperatures on their thermometers in own houses.
The official record was 52.1 °C (125.8 °F) in urban Nicosia.
There were 141 deaths in Spain[
citation needed]. Temperature records were broken
in various cities including 45.1 °C (113.2 °F) in
Jerez , 41 °C (106 °F),
with the heat wave being more felt in typically cooler northern Spain.
Thus, record temperatures were reached in
Girona,
[13] 38.8 °C (101.8 °F)
in
Burgos,
[14] 38.6 °C (101.5 °F) in
San Sebastián,
[14] 36 °C (97 °F)
in
Pontevedra [15] and 36 °C (97 °F) in
Barcelona.
[16] In
Sevilla was 45.2 °C (113.4 °F)
although the record was in 1995 with 46.6 °C (115.9 °F).
[17]