‘Heat storm’ stretches into southern Europe, health alerts issued

Rome, July 16 (BNA): Italy issued red warnings about hot weather in 16 cities today, Sunday, while meteorologists warned that temperatures would reach record levels across southern Europe in the coming days.

Reuters reports that Spain, Italy and Greece have been experiencing sweltering temperatures for several days, damaging agriculture and leaving tourists looking for shade.

But a new anticyclone called Charon, which in Greek mythology was the ferryman for the dead, entered the region from North Africa on Sunday and could raise temperatures above 45C (113F) in parts of Italy early this week.

“We need to prepare for a severe heat storm that will cover the country day by day,” the Italian weather news service Meteo.it warned on Sunday.

“In some places, old heat records will be shattered.”

Greece on Friday closed the ancient Acropolis during the hottest part of the day to protect tourists.

Italian Health Minister Orazio Schillaci said that people should take care to visit the famous ruins of Rome.

“Going to the Colosseum when it’s 43 degrees Celsius (109.4 Fahrenheit) is not recommended, especially for the elderly,” he told Il Messaggero newspaper on Sunday, adding that people should stay indoors between 11am and 6pm.

Besides the Italian capital, health alerts were issued from the central city of Florence to Palermo in Sicily and Bari in the southeast of the peninsula, while temperatures began to rise further north.

“It’s not normal. I don’t remember such intense heat, especially at this time of year,” Federico Prati said as he bathed in Lake Garda.

In Spain, meteorologists have warned of wildfire dangers and said it won’t be easy to sleep through the night, as temperatures are unlikely to drop below 25C (77F) across the country.

Meteorologists expected the heat wave to intensify from Monday, with temperatures reaching 44 degrees Celsius (111.2 Fahrenheit) in the Guadalquivir valley near Seville in the south of the country.

Meanwhile, on the Spanish island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, at least 4,000 people have been evacuated as a forest fire raged out of control in the wake of the heatwave, authorities said.

Meteorologists said the highest recorded temperature in Europe of 48.8 degrees Celsius (119.8 Fahrenheit), recorded in Sicily two years ago, could be surpassed in the coming days, particularly on the Italian island of Sardinia.

The heatwave has spread across the Mediterranean into Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was taken to hospital on Saturday suffering from dizziness and apparent dehydration. He was discharged from the hospital on Sunday.

He said, “I ask all of you, spend less time in the sun, drink more water, and hope we all have a good new week.”

The United States was also in the grip of high temperatures, with nearly a quarter of the population under extreme heat warnings, from the Pacific Northwest, down through California, through the Southwest and into the Deep South and Florida.

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