ROME — The Italian Health Ministry placed 12 cities under the most severe heat warning on Tuesday as a wave of hot air from Africa scorched southern Europe and the Balkans and sent temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). and the worst is yet to come.
Croatia recorded the highest temperatures ever recorded in the Adriatic sea, with the thermometer reaching almost 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in the southern walled city of Dubrovnik, the country’s most popular tourist spot. In Serbia, the state electricity company reported record consumption on Tuesday due to the use of air conditioning.
Municipal authorities in several cities in southern Europe and the Balkans took measures to take special care of older people, while civil protection teams responded to calls for help. airplanes that shoot water like the Canadairs to put out the forest fires that devastated southern Italy and North Macedonia.
“It’s hot as hell,” said Carmen Díaz, a tourist from Madrid trying to cool off with a fan at lunchtime in Rome. “These fans also help a little, but it is very hot.”
In Greece, municipalities made air-conditioned spaces available to the public. Certain forms of outdoor work, such as manual labour, deliveries and construction, were banned during the hottest hours of the day, when temperatures reached 40C.
Temperatures were expected to reach 42C on Wednesday and Thursday in several countries. Spain’s national meteorological service said thermometers could reach 44C in the southern basin of the Guadalquivir River in the coming days.
To beat the heat, Rome Zoo made plans to offer the animals a respite later this week, when temperatures were expected to rise above 38C.
For those who flocked to Coldplay’s concerts in the Eternal City this week, there were no such icy delights.
“It really feels like we’re in an oven with a hair dryer pointed at us,” said Patrizia Valerio, who had just arrived in Rome from Varese for the band’s final performance on Tuesday night.
Mattia Rossi, also a concertgoer, was more philosophical, noting that the strange storms that hit Italy earlier this summer are evidence that climate change is wreaking havoc on southern Mediterranean weather systems.
“In my opinion, these are all symptoms of a planet that is suffering,” Rossi said.
In Albania, where temperatures were expected to reach 42 C, a 72-year-old man was found dead on his farm in Memaliaj, 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of the capital Tirana, and the cause of the Death is the heat, reported the local portal Panorama. There was no immediate confirmation from health authorities.
In Tirana itself, the streets and cafes seemed almost empty, and the few people who were outside used umbrellas for protection. High temperatures and winds have fueled wildfires from the south to the north in recent weeks.
Even with comparatively cold temperatures of 34 C, Istanbul Municipality issued a heat warning on Tuesday warning residents, especially the elderly, pregnant women, children and those with health problems, to avoid going out between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. The advisory said temperatures in Istanbul were expected to remain 3 to 6 degrees above seasonal norms until July 28 and advised residents to drink plenty of fluids and opt for light or cotton clothing.
“It’s usually windy 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 Bosphorus on Tuesday. “May God help those who do not have air conditioning.”
For the second time this month, North Macedonia faced a heat wave with temperatures reaching 42°C. Since the beginning of the month there have been around 200 forest fires in the country, and so far one firefighter has been injured. The government has declared a state of crisis that will last a month.
For Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia, it is the second week in which temperatures have hovered around 40 C, with the Bosnian city of Mostar recording that temperature for the sixth day in a row. Forecasters said the heat wave was expected to peak on Tuesday and slowly subside towards the end of the week.
Romania and neighboring Moldova have also been hit by an intense heatwave over the past week, with temperatures in both countries’ capitals, Bucharest and Chisinau respectively, exceeding 40C this week.
In Italy, the civil protection service reported that it received 18 calls for help on Monday to put out the forest fires that were ravaging several southern regions.
The Health Ministry placed 12 cities, from Trieste in the north to Rome in the center, under red heat alert, the highest heat state of emergency. In cities under such warnings, everyone, not just the elderly or young children, is urged to stay home during the hottest hours of the day and avoid strenuous outdoor exercise and heavy meals.
Palermo, Sicily, was expected to join the list of red bulletin cities on Wednesday, the Health Ministry said.
Much of Greece was also suffering from a sweltering heatwave that would last until the end of the week, with temperatures in some areas forecast to reach 42C. The heatwave was forecast to peak on Wednesday and Thursday, particularly affecting the central and western regions. and northern Greece, where temperatures could rise to 43 C.
The brutal heat wave hitting southern Europe has so far not affected Paris, which is heading to host the Olympic Games at the end of this month. Temperatures were a comparatively cool 22C on Tuesday, although they were expected to rise later in the week before falling again after the weekend.
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Elena Becatoros in Athens, Llazar Semini in Tirana, Albania and Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Spain contributed to this report.
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