WHY IS IT SO HOT IN EUROPE?

LONDON. – As Europe faces record temperatures, almost half of the EU is also battling severe drought.

Southern and eastern Europe are bracing for record breaking temperatures as a searing heatwave sets in.

Parts of Italy could see highs of 48°C in the coming days stoking fears of an increase in heat-related deaths. Last week, a road sign worker collapsed and died near Milan as temperatures hit 40°C.

Greece, too, has seen highs of over 40°C, forcing the Acropolis in Athens to close during the hottest part of the day to protect visitors.

Southeast of the capital, thousands have been forced to evacuate resort towns as wildfires raged.

Thousands of people were also evacuated over the weekend in Spain’s La Palma when a wildfire engulfed the northwest of the island as temperatures soared.

Blazes even hit mountain villages in the Swiss canton of Valais late on Monday.

The extreme weather is partly due to the Charon anticyclone, which is pushing into Europe from north Africa.

It is the second ‘heat storm’ in a week after the Cerberus weather system hit last Monday.

Why is it so hot in Europe?

Extreme temperatures have hit Europe this year as the world swelters through the El Nino weather pattern, and greenhouse gas emissions warm our climate.

But the latest highs have been made worse by an anticyclone dubbed ‘Cerberus’. This area of high pressure started in the Sahara before moving across northern Africa and into the Mediterranean.

The heatwave was named by the Italian Meteorological Society after the fiery-eyed, three-headed dog that guards the gates of the underworld in Greek mythology.

Last Sunday, an anticyclone named ‘Charon’, after Greek mythology’s ferryman of the dead, began to move across Europe, further intensifying the continent’s weather woes.

The Italian islands of Sardinia and Sicily could simmer in 48°C in the coming days, potentially reaching “the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Europe,” according to the European Space Agency (ESA).

In August 2021, Sicily hit 48.8°C – the current record.

Rome, Bologna and Florence are among the 10 Italian cities currently under red alert for extreme heat. People have been advised to avoid direct sunlight in these places between 11am and 6pm.

The temperature in Italy’s capital hit 41.8°C on Tuesday, breaking the previous record of 40.5°C set in summer 2007.

Spain’s weather service said thermometers could potentially hit 45°C southeastern areas of the Iberian Peninsula, which are also under an alert for extreme heat.

The temperature of the ground in parts of the country has hit more than 60°C. – euronews