Solar Power Output Surges as Temperatures Climb Across Europe

(Bloomberg) -- Solar power production is surging as temperatures rise across Europe.

Electricity flowing from photovoltaics in Germany may reach 25.5 gigawatts, just short of the 27-gigawatt record from last May, according to a Bloomberg’s solar model for Europe’s biggest energy market.

The forecast is just one impact of the warmth spreading across the continent following a colder-than-usual winter that produced price spikes in natural gas and power markets just a few weeks ago. A little more than a week after snow carpeted isolated villages in Scotland, the sudden emergence of a ridge of high pressure is sending temperatures soaring and bringing lots of sunshine from London to Berlin.

“A large and intense high pressure area has developed over central Europe during the past couple of days and this will linger here for the rest of this week,” said Matt Dobson, an energy meteorologist at MeteoGroup.

Temperatures are set to climb as high as 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) in western Germany on Thursday, and France will be as hot as 26 degrees on Friday, according to local forecasters. Runners taking to the streets Sunday for the London’s annual marathon face the hottest weather since the race began in 1981, according to BBC meteorologist Simon King.

Temperatures are forecast to peak at 26 degrees on Thursday and remain 23 degrees on Sunday. That’s a degree above the previous record for the marathon in 2007 when 73 runners were sent to the hospital and a total of 5,032 people needed medical treatment due to the hot conditions. About 40,000 runners take part in the annual event.

Last week, the jet stream was tracking to the south of the U.K., France and Spain, encouraging cool air over these areas. Today, the jet stream is surging north, encouraging warm air to sweep up from Spain and North Africa over the western half of Europe, Dobson said.

April got off to a cool start with a very rare showing of snow in parts of the Britain during the Easter holidays. That followed on from the coldest March for six years and the chilliest February in a decade. The warm weather is expected to continue into next week, but the hot spots will move further south and central, according to forecaster Radiant Solutions.

Temperatures in some of Europe’s cities on Thursday:

• London 26C
• Paris 28C
• Berlin 27C
• Amsterdam 28C

To contact the reporter on this story: Rachel Morison in London at rmorison@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net, Jonathan Tirone

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