Rio swelters in heatwave amid run-up to Carnival

Rio de Janeiro residents and tourists baked Monday in scorching temperatures as the city's crowded pre-Carnival street parties swung into full gear.

The municipality's Rio Alert system recorded 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit) in the west of the city -- the highest temperature on record since 2014.

The previous record was 43.8 in November 2023 -- the day after a Taylor Swift fan died from heat exhaustion during her concert in the city.

"We are expecting the hottest summer in recent years," Rio's health secretary Daniel Soranz told AFP on Monday.

"In January, more than 3,000 people were treated in municipal emergency services due to the intense heat," particularly for sunburns and dehydration, Soranz said, adding this was more than double the numbers seen in recent years.

A sizzling weekend in Rio saw residents crowd beaches while a leading samba school canceled its parade rehearsal on Copacabana beach.

Meanwhile, some of the world's top tennis stars will face the heat on and off the court this week at the Rio Open.

The city said it had reached a level four heat alert -- with five being the maximum.

In response, it has opened up dozens of cooling and hydration points.

In Copacabana, wilting doorman Robson Oliveira stopped to take a picture of an electronic display showing the temperature at 39C.

"This heat is unbearable," he told AFP.

"I'm not used to it. It's about time for a little rain to cool off."

- No canceling Carnival -

Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes said Sunday that the city would not cancel events due to extreme temperatures during Carnival, which attracts millions of tourists and is a major earner for the city.

"But it is obvious that we can call the attention of (Carnival) revelers to say: 'Hey, drink more water, hydrate yourself better, take certain precautions,'" he said.

"No one is going to suspend any activity in the city, even in an extreme event."

Raquel Franco, chief meteorologist of the Rio Alert System, said the previous heat record for February in the city was 41.8C, recorded in February 2023.

With no rain on the horizon, "we may have one of the driest Februarys in history," Franco said.

It was even harder to find respite from the heat in the city's favelas -- treeless urban heat islands of brick and concrete that often suffer the worst of heatwaves.

In the Bateau Mouche favela in western Rio, residents doused themselves in water to cool down on Sunday, and an AFP reporter saw an elderly man faint due to high temperatures.

The state of Sao Paulo (southeast) was also under alert due to the first heat wave of the year, with temperatures around 38 degrees Celsius.

In recent years, Brazil has been hard hit by extreme weather events, from floods to droughts and fires, which experts link to global warming.

© Agence France-Presse