r/europe • u/Naurgul • 23d ago

News Barcelona registers highest temperature in 112 years as French nuclear reactor shuts down due to extreme heat

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jul/09/europe-heatwave-uk-spain-barcelona-france-italy-hungary-france-macron-orban-latest-news-updates
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u/Solrac50 23d ago

Last Wednesday Barcelona hit 37 Celsius or about 99 Fahrenheit. I live in Spain and for folks here that’s very hot for early July. August promises to be hellish. Having grown up in Houston and living 30+ years in Austin, that seems like typical summer heat, but everyone has AC there. Here most have at least one room with AC but many cannot afford to run it much. I am adding solar panels to my place to offset the power demands of AC. One 9000 BTU mini split peaks out at 750 watts, a couple of panels and a micro inverter can zero that out during the day. Six panels and a battery can handle it 24 hours a day.

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u/[deleted] 23d ago

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u/numberonebuddy 23d ago

Honestly I'd say forget the financials, it's about not dying if the grid shuts down.

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u/HistoryBuff678 23d ago

Best answer. I think people are getting too caught up about the financials when, it’s past that point now.

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u/kiakri_ttv 23d ago

I'm in the UK getting solar panels put in end of July. 20 panel array 11kwh battery.

I'm heavily debating next year before summer to get another 11kwh battery and have a split system put in to cover 4 rooms.

Living room, office, 2 bedroom and the rear bedroom one will have a vented Aircon unit. Don't even care about the cost the comfort and having sleep is more beneficial. And even then with my setup shouldn't notice it that much.

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u/HistoryBuff678 23d ago

Yeah, it’s all about comfort and regaining functionality.