Spain hits nearly 117 degrees as heat wave bakes S. Europe
MADRID — Spain may have set a new heat record of 116.96 degrees Saturday as Southern Europe sweltered under a relentless summer sun. Italy put 16 cities on red alert for health risks and Portugal warned that 75% of its regions faced a “significantly increased risk” of wildfires.
Data from Spain’s State Meteorological Agency said the potential record was recorded at Montoro, Cordoba. If confirmed, that would exceed the country’s previous record of 116.42 degrees set nearby in July 2017.
On Wednesday, it hit 119.84 degrees in Sicily, which is also awaiting verification of highest temperature ever recorded in Europe. Europe’s current heat record came in 1977 when Athens hit 118.4 degrees.
In the southern Spanish province of Granada, where the mercury rose to 113.7 degrees, few people ventured outside. Those who did sought shade and stopped to take photos of public thermometers displaying the temperatures.
Ice cream parlors did a brisk trade, and some restaurants sprayed mists of water over guests.
Miriam Garcia, a student, wished she hadn’t braved the heat.
“We have to drink water and put on sunscreen 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, said the hot air from the Sahara that has brought days of heat and fueled hundreds of wildfires across Mediterranean nations shows no signs of ending soon.
“The heat wave we are experiencing now is very extreme,” Roye said.
The World Meteorological Organization said temperatures in the Mediterranean region go well beyond the typical hot, dry August weather and instead “are extreme, and what we might expect from climate change.”
Spain’s State Meteorological Agency noted that 24 heat waves have been recorded over the last decade, twice the number in each of the previous three decades.
“It is important to stay in cool places and to stay hydrated, and to special attention to babies and elderly, vulnerable or otherwise dependent people. Extreme precautions should be taken to avoid starting forest fires,” said Ruben del Campo, spokesman for the Spanish meteorological service.
Elsewhere on the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal’s government placed 14 of the country’s 18 districts on a state of alert through Monday night due to the “significantly increased risk” of wildfires.
Italians sought respite at the sea and in the mountains from the aptly named Lucifer anti-cyclone that was bringing hot air from Africa during Italy’s peak summer holiday weekend.
Authorities raised concerns about older adults and other people at risk as they expanded heat warnings to 16 cities.
Temperatures in Italy rose to nearly 100 degrees in Rome, Florence and Bologna, all places that the Health Ministry put on red alert.
High temperatures were forecast to continue through Sunday, the traditional Ferragosto holiday on the religious feast of the Assumption of Mary, which marks the annual summer holiday exodus from Italian cities.
In Rome, drinking fountains provided relief.
“I put my head under the water at each fountain, drinking a lot, staying in the shade as much as I can,” said Alessia Pagani, who was visiting from the northern city of Brescia.