46C Spain’s hottest day and 16 Italian cities on red alert

Sicilians cool off... by climbing up volcano

SPAIN sweltered on its hottest day of the year yesterday as the ‘heat dome’ engulfing southern Europe showed no sign of abating.

The country’s highest temperature was recorded in Ecija, Seville, at 46.5C (115.7F) – just shy of the country’s all-time record of 46.9C, set in Cordoba in July 2017.

Meanwhile, in Italy, officials expanded the number of cities on red alert due to health risks to 16. And in Sicily, which last week recorded Europe’s hottest- ever temperature off 48.8C, people even climbed to the top of Mount Etna – an active volcano – to escape the heat. Temperatures at the summit were said to be 15C cooler than at sea level.

In the southern Spanish province of Granada, where the mercury rose to 45.4C, few people ventured outside. Those who did sought shade and stopped to take photos of public thermometers displaying the rocketing temperatures. Icecream parlours did a brisk trade, and some restaurants installed sprinklers to spray water over sweating guests.

Student Miriam Garcia said she wished she had not stepped outside. ‘It is very hot – we have to drink water and put on sun cream all the time, stopping to have a drink at a bar every so often,’ she said. ‘It would be better to be at home than in the street. It’s so hot.’

Dominic Roye, a climate scientist at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, said hot air from the Sahara desert that has brought days of heat and fuelled hundreds of wildfires across Mediterranean countries showed no signs of ending any time soon.

With night- time temperatures forecast to exceed 25C ( 77F) in much of Spain, Mr Roye said he was worried about residents who could not afford air-conditioning, and other vulnerable people, such as the homeless or outdoor workers. ‘The more intense the heat, the higher the mortality risk,’ he said.

‘ When you have hi gh ni ght temperatures, our bodies are prevented from resting. The body is working and working t o cool down. We have found a strong link between mortality and night temperatures exceeding 20C.’

In Rome, drinking fountains provided relief. ‘I put my head under the water at each fountain and stay in the shade as much as I can,’ said Alessia Pagani, who was visiting from the northern city of Brescia.