Tourists take shelter from the sun in front of the Sforzesco Castle in Milan, Italy, on Tuesday. Weather warnings, wildfires, melting sidewalks in cities: A blistering heat wave has sent temperatures in parts of central and southern Europe soaring to as high as 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) in some places.
Luca Bruno/AP
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Luca Bruno/AP
ROME — Italy’s health ministry put 12 cities on its most severe heat alert on Tuesday as a heatwave from Africa swept into southern Europe and the Balkans, sending temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), with the worst still to come.
Croatia reported the highest temperature ever recorded for the Adriatic Sea, with thermometers hitting nearly 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in the walled southern city of Dubrovnik, the country’s most popular tourist destination. In Serbia, the state-owned electricity company reported record consumption on Tuesday due to air conditioning use.
Municipalities in several southern European and Balkan cities have taken special care measures for the elderly as civil rescue teams responded to calls to use water-bombing aircraft such as Canadair planes to extinguish wildfires raging in southern Italy and North Macedonia.
“It’s incredibly hot,” said Carmen Díaz, a tourist from Madrid trying to stay cool with a fan during lunchtime in Rome. “The fans help a little bit, but it’s really hot.”
In Greece, cities have made air-conditioned spaces available to the public. Certain forms of outdoor work have been banned, such as manual labour, deliveries and construction, during the hottest part of the day when temperatures reach 40 degrees Celsius.
Temperatures are expected to reach 42 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit) in some parts of the country on Wednesday and Thursday. Spain’s national weather agency said thermometers could reach 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit) in the southern Guadalquivir River basin in the coming days.
To beat the heat, Rome zoo plans to provide popsicles to animals this weekend as temperatures are expected to reach 38 degrees Celsius.
For those flocking to the Coldplay concert in the Eternal City this week, there will be no such icy treats.
“It really felt like we were in an oven with a hairdryer pointed at us,” said Patrizia Valerio, who had just arrived in Rome from Varese for the band’s final show on Tuesday night.
Mattia Rossi, another concert-goer, took a more philosophical view, arguing that the unusual storms that hit Italy earlier this summer were evidence that climate change is wreaking havoc on weather systems in the southern Mediterranean.
“To me, these are all symptoms of a planet that is suffering,” Rossi said.
In Albania, where temperatures are expected to reach 42 degrees Celsius (112 degrees Fahrenheit), a 72-year-old man was found dead at his farm in Memaliaj, 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of the capital Tirana, with the cause of death believed to be due to the hot weather, local news portal Panorama reported. There was no immediate confirmation from health authorities.
In Tirana itself, the streets and cafes appeared almost deserted, with a few people out and about using umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun. High temperatures and winds have fanned wildfires from south to north in recent weeks.
Despite a relatively cool 34 degrees Celsius, Istanbul’s city government issued a heat warning on Tuesday, advising residents – especially the elderly, pregnant women, children and those with health problems – to avoid going outside between 10am and 4pm. The warning said temperatures in Istanbul were expected to remain 3 to 6 degrees above seasonal temperatures until July 28 and advised residents to drink plenty of water and wear light or cotton clothing.
“There is usually wind here, like natural air conditioning, so we always come here to cool off,” said Sami Gunaydin, a 62-year-old retiree who was swimming in the Bosporus on Tuesday. “God help those who don’t have air conditioning.”
For the second time this month, North Macedonia is facing a heatwave with temperatures reaching 42 degrees Celsius. Around 200 wildfires have raged in the country since the beginning of the month, with one firefighter injured so far. The government has declared a month-long state of crisis.
For Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia, this is the second week that temperatures have hovered around 40C, with the Bosnian town of Mostar recording that high for the sixth day in a row. Meteorologists say the heatwave is expected to peak on Tuesday and gradually ease over the weekend.
Romania and neighbouring Moldova have also been hit by a severe heatwave over the past week, with temperatures in both capitals Bucharest and Chisinau exceeding 40 degrees Celsius this week.
In Italy, the civil protection agency reported receiving 18 calls for help on Monday to extinguish wildfires raging in several southern regions.
The health ministry has placed 12 cities — from Trieste in the north to Rome in the center — on red heat alerts, the highest level of heat emergency warning. In cities with such alerts, people — not just the elderly or young children — are advised to stay indoors during the hottest parts of the day and avoid strenuous outdoor exercise and heavy meals.
Palermo, Sicily is expected to join the list of cities on alert on Wednesday, the health ministry said.
Much of Greece is also enduring a heatwave that will last until the weekend, with temperatures in some areas expected to reach 42C. The heatwave is expected to peak on Wednesday and Thursday, particularly affecting central, western and northern parts of Greece, where temperatures could rise to 43C.
The extreme heatwave hitting southern Europe has so far spared Paris, which is hosting the Olympics later this month. Temperatures were a relatively cool 22C on Tuesday, although they are expected to rise later in the week, before falling again after the weekend.
