'Hell de Janeiro': scorching heatwave highlights Brazil's glaring inequality

The start of summer in the southern hemisphere is still a month away, but Brazil has already experienced its eighth heatwave of the year so far as temperatures soar to dangerously high levels.

- Constance Malleret

Large swathes of the country were put under red alert this week by Inmet, the national meteorological institute, which warned of risks to health and even life as temperatures stayed at least 5C above average for more than five days.

The dangers were brought into sharp relief by the death of a fan at a Taylor Swift concert on Friday night in Rio de Janeiro, at which thousands of other concertgoers reportedly had to be treated for dehydration.

Ana Clara Benevides Machado, 23, collapsed in the Nilton Santos Olympic Stadium and died shortly afterwards, reportedly from a cardiac arrest, after sweltering conditions were reported at the venue where the temperature was far higher than the official 39.1C outside.

The singer joined fans and politicians in expressing her shock at the death. Swift wrote on social media that she was "devastated" at the news, and "overwhelmed by grief".

At the start of the concert, fans were reported to have shouted repeatedly towards the stage for "water, water, water", after allegedly being prevented from taking supplies into the stadium with them.

Brazil's justice minister, Flávio Dino, posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) that emergency rules would be implemented requiring leisure venues to allow visitors access to water. Other politicians across the region were expected to follow suit.

After Brazil's hottest July, August, September and October on record, this week's temperatures were expected to "rewrite climate history" in the country, the MetSul weather company said.