Canada weather: Village of Lytton smashes heat record for second day
A village in Canada has recorded the country's highest ever temperature, just one day after it smashed the previous record.
Temperatures in Lytton, British Columbia, soared to 47.9C (118.2F) on Monday, up from 46.6C (116F) on Sunday.
Before this week, temperatures in Canada had never passed 45C (113F).
Meanwhile, temperatures in the US cities of Portland and Seattle have reached the highest levels since record-keeping began in the 1940s.
Portland in Oregon hit 46.1C (115F) and Seattle 42.2C (108F), according to the US National Weather Service.
Experts say that climate change is expected to increase the frequency of extreme weather events, such as heatwaves. However, linking any single event to global warming is complicated.
In the tiny village of Lytton, resident Meghan Fandrich told The Globe & Mail it had been "almost impossible" to go outside.
"It has been intolerable," she said, adding that she sent her young daughter to stay with family elsewhere in British Columbia where temperatures are marginally cooler.
"We're trying to stay indoors as much as possible. I mean, we are used to the heat, and it is a dry heat, but 30 [degrees] is a lot different from 47."
In the nearby city of Burnaby, police say they have responded to 25 cases of "sudden death", adding that many of them were seniors.
"Heat is believed to be a contributing factor in the majority of the deaths," the agency said in a news release reminding people to check on their vulnerable neighbours.
Paramedics in British Columbia responded to 107 heat exhaustion calls and 32 heatstroke calls on Sunday, The Globe & Mail reported.
One Seattle resident told the AFP news agency that the city in Washington state felt like a desert.
"Normally it's probably like, maybe 60, 70 degrees is a great day - everybody is outside in shorts and T-shirts - but this is... ridiculous," the resident said.
Amazon allowed members of the public into areas of its Seattle headquarters as a cooling-off location on Monday, while residents in Portland also flocked to cooling centres.
Environment Canada has issued heat warnings for the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, along with areas of Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories and a section of Yukon.
"We are the second coldest country in the world and the snowiest," said David Phillips, a senior climatologist for Environment Canada.
"We often see cold snaps and blizzards but not often do we talk about hot weather like this," he said. "Dubai would be cooler than what we're seeing now."
