‘Lucifer’, the heatwave gripping Europe, blamed for five deaths

AT least five people have died as a heatwave with temperatures exceeding 104F (40C) engulfs southern Europe. In northern Italy, a woman was swept to her death as an avalanche of mud and water caused by the humid conditions hit her car near the Alpine ski resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo.

The car was recovered in a river bed but emergency services were unable to resuscitate the woman. The incident followed the deaths of two pensioners, one in the central Italian region of Abruzzo and the other in the south of the country, who were caught in wildfires.

Two weather-related fatalities were also reported in Romania, including that of a farmer who collapsed while working outdoors. The heatwave has cost billions of euros in crop damage and is, scientists warned, a taste of worse to follow in decades to come. Italian wine and olive production is tipped to fall 15 and 30 per cent respectively this year. Unusually high temperatures, in some cases unprecedented, are being recorded in an area spanning the Iberian Peninsula, southern France, Italy, the Balkans and Hungary.

The hot spell has exacerbated the impact of an extended drought and the lingering impact of a July heatwave which sparked wildfires that claimed 60 lives in Portugal. Hospital admissions have risen 15-20 per cent in Italy, where the heatwave has been named “Lucifero”, or Lucifer.

Emma Sharples, from the Met Office, said: “This extreme heat will have caught some holidaymakers out and they are advised to stay out of the midday sun abroad from 10am to 2pm.”