Argentina, and especially its capital, is suffocating from an endless summer, the hottest in its history, with classrooms closed or restricted, children in shelters, power outages in areas and record temperatures, AFP reports.

Health authorities issued a red alert for a third of the country at the end of last week, and temperatures have risen steadily over the past week in Buenos Aires, which reached 34 degrees on Thursday: Argentina is experiencing its ninth heat wave since then. spring season – summer from the beginning of November.

During the previous wave, in February, records fell, recording the hottest period for Buenos Aires since records began (1906), with an average daily temperature of 25.6 degrees (including overnight).

Nationally, it was the hottest summer since 1961, and the March record continues to be rewritten, with 38 degrees on March 3, according to the National Weather Service (NSS).

In the capital, which is very green, especially after the major beautification works of the early 20th century, March is usually a pleasant month, with moderate heat and mild evenings. But this year the minimum temperatures are not falling.

“Actually, this is the hottest March I can remember in my life. The capital is not used to this at all,” worries Ricardo Merkin, seventy years old, who walks early in the morning in the park of Palermo. And who, weakened by the heat, says that he monitors his blood pressure “more than ever in the last 15 years”.

Meanwhile, youths are running away from the school, which reopened last week. In the province of Buenos Aires, many classes have been suspended due to the lack of air conditioning equipment.

“Kids pass out, they can’t concentrate, imagine 39 students in a room with no ventilation,” Patricia Castro, the mother of a seven-year-old student in the Boedo district, told AFP.