The Presidency of Meteorology and Environment Protection (PME) said it recorded the highest temperature in the history of the presidency in Jeddah on Tuesday, with a scorching 52 degrees Centigrade in the shade. “This surpassed the former high of 51 degrees Centigrade recorded in Al-Ahsa three days ago,” the PME statement said. Measurement devices also recorded the temperature reaching 50 degrees Centigrade in the shade in Makkah for the first time on Tuesday, while the temperature in Madina hit 60 degrees Centigrade under the sun on Wednesday. The PME said the increase in temperature can kill people, citing the heat wave in Europe in 2003 where, in France alone, 11,000 people died. Also, more than 1,250 people died in the United States in 1980 during a heat wave. – Okaz/SG Brigadier Siraj Kamal, Director of Madina Police, said traffic police officers are working in the field at midday despite the rise in the temperature. “We cannot stop working under these circumstances especially when there are periods that require officers to be present in large numbers, like when the power is cut off at traffic lights and in summer when accidents increase.”
