'Heat dome' causes record temperatures in US states of Washington and Oregon - and 46C in Canada
Dry ice is being used to cool water and people are sleeping in "cooling shelters" as scorching conditions disrupt normal life.
Monday 28 June 2021 17:48, UK
A "heat dome" has led to record high temperatures in the US states of Washington and Oregon, and also in Canada, where temperatures have topped 46C.
Dry ice is being used to cool water, people have been sleeping in "cooling shelters", and a swimming pool in Seattle was closed because the surrounding deck area was "dangerously" hot.
A heat dome is when high pressure parks itself over an area, acting like a lid on a saucepan, trapping heat.
A record temperature of 104F (40C) was set in Seattle - a city famous for rain - on Sunday. It was the highest temperature since 2009.
At 7pm, thermometers were still registering 99F (37.2C), the National Weather Service said. Monday could see a high of 110F (43.3C).
That figure was reached in Portland, Oregon, on Sunday, while in the state capital, Salem, the mercury rose to 112F (44.4C), breaking the previous record by four degrees Fahrenheit. The average temperature for Portland in June is 22C.
In Ontario, Oregon, forecasters are predicting at least a week of triple-digit temperatures, including a high of 109F (42.8 C) on Wednesday.
And in the Canadian province of British Columbia, the temperature in one village reached 46C (115F). It made an all-time high for Canada.
The heatwave is also moving into Idaho, where temperatures above 100F (38C) are forecast for the state capital, Boise, for at least the next seven days.
Some residents have been losing power, with about 3,000 customers in Portland and 3,400 in the greater Seattle area affected.
King County closed several COVID-19 testing centres and trains may have to slow down because of excessive heat on the tracks.
Sky News US correspondent Greg Milam said there is little respite from the intense heat because temperatures are hardly dropping at night.
The National Weather Service in Coeur d'Alene said this week's weather "will likely be one of the most extreme and prolonged heat waves in the recorded history of the Inland Northwest."
Despite the breathless conditions, about 3,000 athletes participated in an Ironman Triathlon in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, on Sunday, starting at 5am to try to avoid the worst of the heat.
Kristie Ebi, a professor at the University of Washington who studies global warming and its effects on public health, said the days-long heat wave was a taste of the future as climate change reshapes global weather patterns.
And back in Seattle, one resident Donna Meade told The Seattle Times: "I will get air conditioning. I thought I could live through the heat, but nope. We still have July, August and the smoke to get through."