European weather: Italy issues “severe” health warning for 16 cities over weekend

CNN
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Italian authorities have issued a “severe” health risk for 16 cities this weekend, including Rome and Florence. Heat wave That’s packing Europe threatening to bring record temperatures.

Temperatures on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia could reach 48 degrees Celsius (118.4 degrees Fahrenheit), European Space Agency (ESA) climate scientists say, “the hottest temperature ever recorded in Europe.”

Rome can heat up to 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit).

Italian authorities have issued a second extreme heat warning for nine other cities. The country’s health ministry advises the public to stay hydrated, eat light meals and avoid direct sunlight between 11am and 6pm.

The ESA warned that Europe’s heat wave is expected to see extreme weather in Spain, France, Germany and Poland, with the continent welcoming what is expected. Record number of tourists It comes for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Greece closed Athens’ Acropolis for a second day on Saturday amid extreme temperatures. Local police helped a tourist who got into trouble on Friday.

There is particular concern for outdoor workers after a 44-year-old construction worker in Italy collapsed and died on the side of a road earlier in the week.

Officials in Spain warned that the heat wave was not only hitting the traditionally toasty pan regions of the south, but also the country’s generally colder north.

In the south, temperatures reached 40 degrees Celsius or 104 degrees Fahrenheit in the cities of Seville, Córdoba and Granada.

The Spanish resort island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean also saw a high of 36 degrees Celsius, or 97 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Spain’s National Meteorological Service.

Meanwhile, even Navarra, a normally temperate region in the north, can see up to 40 degrees Celsius.

A wildfire on the island of La Palma in Spain’s Canary Islands has burned several homes and forced the evacuation of 500 people, the Canary Islands regional government tweeted Saturday morning.

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Heat is one of the deadliest natural hazards—and more than that 61,000 people died Europe experienced a summer heat wave last year.

The current heat wave – named “Cerberus” by the Italian Meteorological Society after the three-headed monster featured in Dante’s “Inferno” – has sparked further fears for people’s health, especially as it is one of Europe’s busiest summer tourist periods. the season

Europe isn’t the only place facing extreme temperatures. A dangerous week-long heat wave in some areas Western America More than 90 million people are under heat warnings set to worsen this weekend.

According to the country’s Meteorological Centre, Sydney has been experiencing unseasonably warm weather during its winter months, with extreme weather affecting as far away as Australia.