Intense heat in N. America - 7th July 2021

North America has been hit by a severe heatwave. Temperatures have reached nearly 50 degrees Celsius.

In Portland, Oregon, locals are escaping the baking heat in special cooling centres.

Jenny Carver has been involved in setting up the three local centres.

Jenny Carver: On Friday around 1pm, we opened three cooling center locations throughout the county. Currently we're serving about 350 people across all three of those locations."

The record breaking temperatures have forced schools and Covid vaccination centres to close. Even an Olympic track and field qualifying event was delayed.

Ashley's been driven out of his apartment.

Ashley: "I, I came here because - I, I have an apartment and I have box fans and ice, a freezer and everything - but it just, like, wasn't enough to keep everything cool. Especially at night, because it was like 90 degrees at midnight or some - or 80 degrees or something - it was crazy.

Hundreds of sudden deaths in Canada have been linked to the heatwave.

Vancouver has provided residents with water fountains and misting stations to make cooling down easier.

Café owner Ian Widgery believes in the cooling powers of ice cream.

Ian Widgery: "My gosh! The heat is crazy at the moment. And there's only one way to stay cool, which is by eating a lot of ice cream."

High pressure which is moving over North America has brought about these extreme temperatures. Experts warn that global warming is responsible for the situation.