Italy and France prepared for several more days of a punishing heatwave that has gripped southern Europe and Britain, causing health and wildfire warnings, as Spain and Portugal both reported record temperatures on Monday.
Authorities in the nations along the Mediterranean’s northern coast have urged people to seek shelter and protect the most vulnerable during the first major heatwave of the summer.
As a record number of of France’s 96 mainland departments were placed on the second-highest “orange” heat alert, Agnes Pannier-Runacher, the country’s ecology transition minister, declared, “This is unprecedented.”
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As a result of experts’ warning that such heatwaves, which have been worsened by climate change, will increase, ambulances were stationed close to tourist hotspots.
After blazes broke out Sunday in France, Turkey, and Italy, firefighters were also on standby to help.
Cities are providing various ways to stay cool, from free elderly tours to free swimming in Marseille.
Records
The national weather service reported on Monday that southern Spain’s temperatures reached a record high of 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit) on Saturday, breaking the previous record set for June.
Agathe Lacombe, a Strasbourg-based tourist who is traveling to Madrid with her children and grandchildren, called it “a little challenging.”
She told AFP, “You have to adapt your entire day’s planning, do everything in the morning, and come home at the hottest times to find some cool.”
Her daughter-in-law, Valentine Jung, said, “We didn’t anticipate it being so hot.”
We didn’t consider that when we booked, so it’s a good thing we have air conditioning in our accommodations. she stated.
Mora, Portugal, on Sunday, added a new record-breaking maximum temperature of 46.6 degrees to the country’s record-settings, according to data from the national meteorological agency.
For the second day in a row on Monday, Portugal’s capital Lisbon and seven other regions were placed on red alert, with numerous fire warnings in numerous forest areas.
In Italy, images of people fleeing into the sea at a beach resort in Baia Domizia, near Naples, were captured in local media as pinewoods burned through their backs.
We were surrounded by flames that were at least 30 meters high and smoke all over, according to Cellole Mayor Guido di Leone, who posted a Facebook post.
Peak
Tuesday and Wednesday are expected to be the heatwave’s peak in France.
According to Antonio Spano, the ilmeteo’s founder, the sizzling temperatures will continue to rise until the end of the week and beyond. website for meteorology.
Milan, Verona, Rome, Perugia, and Palermo are among the 18 cities nationwide that have received red alerts over the upcoming days.
According to scientists, the effects of climate change are making hotter, hotter heat waves, particularly in cities where the “urban heat island effect” increases the temperature of densely packed buildings.
Florence and Bologna, where it has experienced “incessant highs every day for the entire week, certainly much higher than the norm,” Spano told AFP, have been particularly bad.
Spain, Portugal, and Italy have already completed the school year, which ends on Friday in France, where some summer camps are subventioned in an effort to keep kids cool.
Not typical, exactly?
The majority of Croatia’s coastline was in a red alert, and Montenegro was alerted for extreme temperatures.
And Serbia’s meteorological service, the , warned that “a large portion” of the nation is experiencing severe and extreme drought conditions with little hope of relief.
Diego Radames, 32, a photographer for AFPTV in Madrid, claimed that the heat we’re experiencing is not typical for this time of year.
I feel like Madrid is getting hotter and hotter, especially in the city center, he continued.
Britain’s Met Office increased the number of amber heat alerts Monday to seven areas of England, including those that were starting the Wimbledon tennis tournament, as temperatures are expected to reach 34 degrees.
According to the Met Office, it is provisionally the hottest start to Wimbledon on record, with 29.7 degrees recorded at nearby Kew Gardens.
When it’s really hot outside, Wimbledon is quite sweaty. According to Londoner Sean Tipper, 31, “We were very hot last time, so we’ve got rosé in a cooler this time so we can do a better job,” Tipper said.
