Europe sizzles under worsening heat wave
ROME — Scorching temperatures across Europe forced the closure of the Acropolis in Athens for a second day as officials warned Saturday of even hotter weather next week, when the mercury is forecast to top 104 degrees Fahrenheit in several popular Mediterranean tourist destinations.
In cities, those venturing out at all drenched themselves in fountains while others sought out pools, the sea or shade in hopes of relief from the heat wave caused by Cerberus. The high-pressure anticyclone coming from the south was named after the three-headed dog in ancient Greek mythology who guarded the gates to the underworld.
Fifteen cities in Italy, most of them in the country’s center and south, were under heat advisories signaling a high level of risk for older adults, the infirm, infants and other vulnerable people. Temperatures remained in the mid-90s across much of the Italian peninsula Saturday but were expected to reach between 100 and 104 degrees in Sardinia, Sicily and Puglia.
The cities under alerts included the high-tourism destinations of Bologna, Florence and Rome. The capital hit a high of 95 degrees Saturday and was expected to see temperatures as high as 107 on Tuesday when other Italian cities could be even hotter.
In Greece’s capital, where the temperature was forecast to reach 105, officials decided to keep the sun-baked Acropolis monument closed from noon to 5:30 p.m. as they did Friday.
Czech temperatures soared to a new record high for any July 15. The thermometer hit 101.5 at Plzen-Bolevec in western Czechia, up from the previous record of 98.2 for this day set in Podebrady, east of Prague in 2007, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute said.
Temperatures were milder in Spain’s Canary Islands, but a wildfire on the island of La Palma caused a preventive evacuation of some 500 people. Officials warned that shifting winds and the area’s rainparched dry terrain could increase the number of evacuees.
In Turkey, coastal cities in the south and southwest reached over 100 degrees. The tourism hot spot of Antalya saw a high of 111.
In the northwestern cities of Edirne, Kırklareli and Tekirdag, 48 people were taken to emergency rooms with symptoms of heat stroke in the past two days, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
The heat wave also was taking its toll on water levels in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city. The main water supply at the Omerli Dam reservoir, already at 41 percent capacity due to low rainfall, was losing 17,000 tons of water an hour during the early afternoon, Levent Kurnaz of Bosphorus University’s Center for Climate Change and Policy Studies told local media.
European countries father north also sweltered on Saturday. Authorities in Poland warned older adults in particular to stay indoors or in the shade and well-hydrated as temperatures reached 95 degrees.
In downtown Warsaw, and in other cities, makeshift hose fountains were arranged to let people and their pets cool off. Police issued warnings about not leaving children or pets unattended inside cars.
And in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed on people to drink water and act safely in the scorching summer after he was rushed to hospital on Saturday for dehydration following a day spent in the sun without a hat and without water.