Heatwave

Firefighting planes have been called in as the Fire and Rescue Authority works to extinguish the blaze.  

Officials cautioned against outdoor activity during the hottest hours and urged the public to prepare for possible health risks such as dehydration and heatstroke.

Temperatures are expected to reach up to 49° Celsius in the area surrounding the Sea of Galilee (where the current record temperature is 47°C), and up to 51°C in the Jordan Valley.

"The number one cause is climate change. There is no doubt about that," said a researcher after studying 124 reefs between August 2024 and May 2025.

The closure of banks, government offices and other public buildings will affect the provinces of Mazandaran, Markazi, Yazd, Semnan, Kermanshah and Razavi Khorasan, along with the capital.

In 2019, six years from Thursday’s record, the Sdom station also recorded the hottest temperature for Israel on record at a whopping 49.9°C.

President Massoud Pezeshkian delivered a stark warning during a cabinet meeting on the same day, citing an energy ministry report that revealed the crisis was more severe than publicly acknowledged.

Like other countries in Western Europe, Spain has been hit by extreme heat in recent weeks, with temperatures often topping 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

Last month was the planet's third-hottest June on record, behind the same month in 2024 and 2023, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service said in a monthly bulletin on Wednesday.

Health alerts were issued in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Germany. Even the Netherlands, used to a milder climate, issued a warning for high temperatures in the coming days, with high humidity.

As the new fire prediction system is rolled out this summer, it represents a significant leap forward in Israel's ability to manage the risks posed by climate change.