Heatwave spreads across southern Europe
Fires are likely in France and temperatures above 40ºC in Spain. An early heatwave is affecting European countries this weekend, a period in which authorities are mobilizing to avoid health risks.
In Italy, 17 cities have been on red alert since this Saturday (28), both in the north, such as Milan, Bologna and Turin, and in the south, especially in Naples and Palermo, where maximum temperatures of 39º C are expected.
In Rome, thermometers were already showing 30ºC at 10 am local time (5 am in Brasília) and temperatures are expected to rise to 37ºC, according to forecasts.
The heat wave will be even more intense on Sunday, with 21 cities on red alert.
Some regions, such as Liguria and Sicily, have enacted decrees banning outdoor work during peak hours, and unions are campaigning to extend the ban to other regions.
The heat has already led to an increase in the number of emergency calls in the last week, the Ansa news agency reported.
“I try not to think about it, but I drink a lot of water and I never sit still, because that's when you get sunstroke,” Italian student Sriane Minà told AFPTV on Friday in Venice.
Scientists have been warning for years about the impact of climate change on heat waves, droughts and other extreme weather events, which are becoming more intense and frequent.
In Spain, several regions were on orange alert on Saturday, the second most relevant, due to high temperatures. Thermometers could reach 42ºC in some areas, warned the National Meteorological Agency (Aemet).
The worst part of the event is initially expected for Sunday and, with greater uncertainty, for Monday, when temperatures could exceed 40ºC in the southwest of the country and in some areas of the northeast.
“[The temperature] is expected to exceed 42ºC in the area around the Guadalquivir, Guadiana and Tagus rivers, without ruling out the Ebro,” Aemet announced in the special alert on the heatwave issued on Friday.
The heat also contributes to the warming of the sea waters of the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, which “exceed 26°C: a record figure for these dates, typical of mid-August”, highlighted Aemet in its account on X.
The last three years have been the hottest in Spanish history, with several heat waves and temperature records.
In Portugal, two-thirds of the country will be on orange alert on Sunday, with 42°C expected in Lisbon and a maximum risk of fires.
The danger is also mounting in France, where temperatures could reach 35°C in at least two-thirds of the country on Sunday and Monday.
Tristan Amm, a meteorologist at Météo-France, warned that there will be “very unpleasant” nights, with temperatures not falling below 20ºC.
The heatwave hit the south of the country for a second day on Saturday before spreading north, increasing the risk of fires. It is expected to last until at least Tuesday.
The cause of this new peak in France is a “heat dome”. This mechanism resembles a large and powerful anticyclone that forms a kind of lid that blocks the air in the lower layers, preventing disturbances from entering, while gradually warming it.
In Marseille, in the south of the country, the city council announced that municipal swimming pools will be free of charge and published a map of public areas with air conditioning.
In Nice, also in the south, the city announced that around 250 portable ventilators had been distributed “in the last two weeks” to schools and isolated elderly people.
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