Temperatures continued to reach extreme highs across many parts of the northern hemisphere on Monday, with the mercury in parts of Italy poised to hit 45C on Tuesday and wildfires raging in Greece and Spain signalling the latest fierce warning of the effects of the climate crisis.
In Italy, where temperatures later in the week could push close to the European record of 48.8C, set in the Sicilian town of Floridia in August 2021, Italians were warned to brace themselves for “the most intense heatwave of the summer and also one of the most intense of all time”.
As heatwaves engulfed the globe, temperatures in California’s Death Valley, often among the hottest places on Earth, approached a world record on Sunday after reaching 53.3C.
China on Sunday issued several temperature alerts, warning of 39C in southern Guangxi region and 40-45C in the partly desert region of Xinjiang, where a temperature of 52.2C was recorded in the remote Sanbao township. In Japan, 60 people were treated for heatstroke as temperatures in the country reached highs of 39.1C.
In a stark warning to world leaders earlier on Monday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization, wrote on Twitter: “In many parts of the world, today is predicted to be the hottest day on record. And these records have already been broken a few times this year. Heatwaves put our health and lives at risk. The #ClimateCrisis is not a warning. It’s happening. I urge world leaders to act now.”
Italy’s health ministry said on Monday that 23 Italian cities, including Rome, Florence, Bologna, Bari, Catania, Cagliari, Palermo and Turin, would be on “red alert” by Wednesday, a measure that means the heat is so intense, it poses a threat to the health of the entire population, not just children and elderly people.
Temperatures in Rome, which is packed with tourists, are poised to climb to 42C or 43C on Tuesday.
“This is exceptional heat,” said Carlo Cacciamani, the chief of Italy’s national meteorological and climatology agency. “We are expecting days of above 40C and this is already a strong anomaly. This type of situation is occurring more frequently than it did in the past.”
The civil protection authority in Rome said it was setting up 28 “heat help points”, including at key monuments such as the Colosseum, to assist people who are suffering. “We’ll give out empty bottles of water to be filled from water fountains,” said Rome’s civil protection chief, Giuseppe Napolitano. “We want to prevent people from getting ill, especially the elderly.”
Meanwhile, wildfires raging close to seaside resorts south of Athens have destroyed untold numbers of homes and cars. Dramatic scenes unfolded on Monday in the coastal resorts of Lagonissi, Saronida and Anavyssos as blazes fanned by high-speed winds moved in.
Despite Greek authorities issuing precautionary evacuation orders, reports indicated that people had been trapped in homes in Lagonissi. Mega TV showed footage of horses and dogs trapped at a riding club in Anavyssos.
Saronida’s former mayor Petros Philippou told local media: “The fire is continuously moving threateningly and right now it is above Saronida. People have to leave these areas immediately, with care and with calm.”
Firefighters have also been fighting blazes that broke out in the Kouvaras area of eastern Attica earlier in the day. Panic-stricken Athenians, many of whom have second homes in the area, have rushed to check on their properties, adding to the traffic chaos as others flee.
Blazes have also erupted in Corinth and Boeotia, where firefighting planes, helicopters and trucks have been deployed. Syriza, the leftwing main opposition party, said its thoughts were with all those now at risk of seeing “everything they had spent a lifetime” working [to achieve] lost to the flames. Greece’s civil protection ministry is to hold an emergency meeting with the fire service and other forces.
In Spain, a wildfire that started on Saturday on the Canary island of La Palma continued to burn out of control on Monday, although authorities said weaker winds and cooler temperatures in the area were aiding the firefighters’ efforts. The blaze has burned 4,600 hectares (11,300 acres) of mostly woody hill land and 20 houses and buildings.
Spain’s Aemet weather agency said the heatwave this week “will affect a large part of the countries bordering the Mediterranean”, with temperatures in some southern areas of Spain exceeding 42C (107F).
The agency said it expected temperatures to drop some time on Wednesday.
Spokesperson Rubén del Campo said an anticyclone was pushing a hot mass of air from Africa towards Spain and other Mediterranean countries. The agency predicts that with the heat and dry air, the risk of wildfires will soar.
Research published last week said there were 61,672 heat-related deaths last summer, the hottest recorded in Europe. The mortality rate was highest in Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal. A road worker died of a heat-related illness in Milan last week.
