UK retailer Next upgraded its profit guidance for the third time this year to £1.2bn after a hot summer boosted second-quarter full-price sales by 9%, driving its shares to a record high.
Asian travelers continue flocking to Europe despite record-breaking summer heat, with searches rising 57% year-on-year. While Southern Europe remains popular, Northern Europe and cooler destinations are seeing surging demand and doubled hotel bookings.
Canada is experiencing over 900 active wildfires, scorching 3 million hectares, with significant concerns in the Northwest Territories and Ontario, causing poor air quality extending to Europe. Concurrently, Salta, Argentina, recorded its warmest-ever winter night at 26C, driven by the Zonda wind and potentially influenced by El Niño.
UK families, including those with newborn babies, are booking air-conditioned hotel rooms to escape the ongoing heatwave, leading to a significant surge in demand. The UK hotel industry saw a 34% revenue increase in late June, with many establishments operating at or near capacity.
An intense heatwave is forecast to bring temperatures up to 40C in central and northern Europe this weekend, impacting countries like Germany, Poland, and the Austrian Grand Prix. Concurrently, a rare F3 tornado struck Russia's Sverdlovsk region, injuring 16 and damaging 100 homes.
Europe faces a growing challenge as extreme heatwaves become the norm, driving a surge in demand for air conditioning despite historical resistance and high costs. While AC penetration is low compared to the US, the trend is changing, necessitating policy adjustments, housing adaptations, and greener cooling solutions to address public health risks and environmental concerns.
Amsterdam is advising residents to hang curtains outside windows to block sun and reduce indoor heat during a heatwave. Health experts recommend this simple hack, alongside national heatwave plans and urban cooling initiatives like fake trees and shadow art, to mitigate heat-related deaths and improve livability.
Countries such as US and Mexico that have longer hours also have higher obesity rates, research findsThose who work longer hours are more likely to be obese and cutting how much time you spend working could help you keep the weight off, research suggests.International research presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Istanbul compared working patterns and obesity prevalence for 33 OECD countries from 1990 to 2022. The study found that countries such as the US, Mexico and Colombia, which have longer annual working hours, also had higher obesity rates, even though northern European countries consume more energy and fat on average than those in Latin America. Continue reading...
