Health warnings go up as heatwave hits south Europe
People cool off near a water spray in Paris. Photo: NurPhoto via AFP
A punishing heatwave gripped southern Europe on Monday, prompting authorities to issue health and wildfire warnings as temperatures are expected to soar again.
France, Italy, Portugal and Spain have been sweltering for several days as the mercury climbed to 44 degrees Celsius in some places.
"This is unprecedented," Agner Pannier-Runacher, France's ecology transition minister said as a record 84 of the nation's 96 mainland departments were placed on the second-highest orange heat alert.
Only a small sliver of the country in the northwest was not sweltering, according to the Meteo France weather service, which said the heatwave was due to peak on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The summer's first major heatwave has seen authorities in the countries along the Mediterranean's northern coast urging people to seek shelter.
Ambulances stood on standby near tourist hotspots as experts warned that such heatwaves, intensified by climate change, would become more frequent.
Firefighters were on standby after blazes broke out on Sunday in France and Turkey, fed by the heat and strong winds.
Already last week, Greek firefighters had to battle a forest blaze on the coast south of Athens that forced some evacuations.
Spain's weather service AEMET said temperatures in Extremadura and Andalusia, in the south and southwest, had reached up to 44 degrees on Sunday.
And in Italy, 21 cities across the length of the country were on high alert for extreme heat, including Milan, Naples, Venice, Florence, Rome and Catania. (AFP)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Standard
5 hours ago
- The Standard
Germany swelters as European heatwave moves eastwards
People cool off in the Trocadero Fountain, in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on July 2, 2025. (AFP)
South China Morning Post
12 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
8 dead in Europe heatwave, as early summer temperatures hit records
Four people died in Spain, two in France and two in Italy as an early summer heatwave continued to grip much of Europe on Wednesday, triggering health alerts and forest fires and forcing the closure of a nuclear reactor at a Swiss power plant. Spanish officials said a wildfire in Catalonia had killed two people a day earlier, and authorities reported heatwave-linked deaths also in Extremadura and Cordoba. France's energy minister reported two deaths linked to the heat, with 300 others taken to hospital. Italy issued red alerts for 18 cities, while in Germany temperatures were forecast to peak at 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas, making it the hottest day of the year. Two men over the age of 60 died in separate incidents on the beach in Sardinia from the heat, ANSA news agency reported. Weather forecaster Meteo France said red alerts remained for several areas of central France. People cool down at a public water sprinkler during a heatwave in Krakow, Poland, on Wednesday. Photo: EPA The risks were greatest for vulnerable members of the population, and Catherine Vautrin, France's health and families minister, said authorities should remain vigilant.
RTHK
a day ago
- RTHK
Japan updates preparedness for possible 'megaquake'
Japan updates preparedness for possible 'megaquake' The number of Hong Kong residents visiting Japan fell 11.2 percent in May amid worries about a megaquake. File photo: Yomiuri Shimbun via AFP The Japanese government said that much more needs to be done to prepare for a possible "megaquake" to reduce the feared death toll of up to 300,000 people. Quakes are extremely hard to predict, but in January a government panel marginally increased the probability of a major jolt in the Nankai Trough off Japan in the next 30 years to 75-82 percent. The government then released a new estimate in March saying that such a megaquake and subsequent tsunami could cause as many as 298,000 deaths and damages of up to US$2 trillion. In 2014 the Central Disaster Management Council issued a preparedness plan recommending a series of measures that, it was hoped, would reduce deaths by 80 percent. But the government has said that so far the steps taken would only cut the toll by 20 percent, Kyodo news agency reported, and an updated preparedness plan was issued on Tuesday. This recommended accelerated efforts including constructing embankments and evacuation buildings as well as more regular drills to improve public readiness. The Nankai Trough is an 800-kilometre undersea gully running parallel to Japan's Pacific coast where one tectonic plate is subducting – slowly slipping – underneath another. Over the past 1,400 years, megaquakes in the Nankai Trough have occurred every 100 to 200 years. The last one was in 1946. The Japan Meteorological Association in August issued its first advisory warning that the likelihood had risen but it was lifted again after a week. Some foreign tourists have been holding off coming to Japan this summer by unfounded fears spurred on social media that a major quake is imminent. Hong Kong-based Greater Bay Airlines reduced flights to Japan because "demand has rapidly decreased", a local tourism official said in May. The number of visitors from Hong Kong to Japan fell 11.2 percent in May year on year, according to the tourism office. (AFP)
