Southern Europe swelters as Cerberus heatwave bites
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By Renee Maltezou and Angelo Amante
ATHENS/ROME, (Reuters) – Southern Europe continue to swelter under a fierce heatwave , with a warning that temperatures could hit record highs for the continent next week.
Weather alerts were in place across Spain’s Canary Islands, Italy, Cyprus and Greece, with the Greek authorities expecting temperatures to reach as high as 43 Celsius (109.4 Fahrenheit) or 44 Celsius on Friday or Saturday.
Cerberus heatwave: a real contrast across Europe over the coming days – stormy weather expected for the UK, while high temperatures are forecast for parts of southern Europe
An ambulance was put on standby near the archaeological site of the Acropolis in Athens, according to local media, ready to provide first aid to tourists suffering in the heat.
The impact of extreme summer heat has been brought into focus by research this week that said as many as 61,000 people may have died in Europe’s sweltering heatwaves last summer.
Governments and employers are under pressure to do more to protect workers exposed to the burning sun in the latest heatwave, which the Italian Meteorological Society has named “Cerberus”, the three-headed dog of the underworld in Greek mythology. There are concerns about the impact on those working outdoors in Italy after a 44-year-old man who was painting road markings in the northern town of Lodi collapsed and died this week.
Health authorities issued a top, red alert warning for 10 Italian cities for the next two days, including Rome, Florence, Bologna and Perugia. In Greece, the government has ordered the suspension of work between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. local (0900-1400 GMT) in areas where the risk from heat is very high, and also requested remote work for private sector employees with health conditions.
SCORCHING EARTH
There was some respite in Spain on Thursday after images captured by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel 3 satellites had measured the land surface temperature at in excess of 60C in the western region of Extremadura on Tuesday.
Weather forecasts and official records are based on the air temperature which is significantly lower than the land surface reading. The record European temperature of 48.8C was registered in Sicily in August 2021 and could be exceeded next week, according to the European Space Agency. Italy is again forecast to be one of the hottest spots.
After the hottest June on record, July is not looking so fresh either. 🌡️
A major heatwave is predicted to rise temperatures as high as 48°C.
“Next week there will be an even stronger heatwave than this one, some values in the central south will be really freaky,” said Luca Lombroso, meteorologist from the AMPRO group in Italy. “Between Tuesday and Wednesday in Rome and Florence we will probably exceed 40 degrees, which will also be approached in the north,” he added.
Marco Impagliazzo, president of the Sant’Egidio Catholic charity, said an estimated nine million older Italians lived alone or with an elderly partner and were particularly vulnerable.
“With this solitude and this heat emergency, we see an explosive mix,” he told a press conference. It’s not just humans who are suffering. Italian farmers’ lobby group Coldiretti said milk production was down by around 10% because cows eat less in the heat, drink huge quantities of water and make less milk.
Two women chat in downtown Malaga, southern Spain, southern Spain. Temperature are forecast to reach 42 degree Celsius in the city during the day amid a heat wave affecting the country. EPA-EFE/JORGE ZAPATA
