Europeans seek shade as heatwave grips much of the continent
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Despite at least 4,000 people being evacuated in Spain as firefighters struggle to contain wildfires tearing through La Palma, the president of the Canary Islands has warned that some residents are refusing to leave their homes.
President Fernando Clavijo said that at least 13 houses were destroyed as the fire advanced, having already ravaged at least 45 square kilometres of land, as he urged those showing “resistance” to leaving their homes to “be responsible”.
Earlier, some tourists were reportedly sent to hospital in Athens, Greece as they arrived in droves at the Acropolis even as the authorities shut the monument’s gates between midday and early evening amid a severe heatwave.
Kim Adams, visiting from Scotland told Sky News: “It’s quite difficult today, really very hot”.
Temperatures in Italy are predicted to climb as high as 49C in Puglia, Sardinia and Sicily next week, as the heatwave gripping Southern Europe shows no sign of abating.
Red alerts for extreme heat have been issued in 16 cities across Italy as the Mediterranean country is gripped by blistering hot temperatures.
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1689514545Outlook improving for La Palma wildfire, minister says
More favourable weather conditions have helped firefighters slow the advance of the wildfire on La Palma which has forced the evacuation of more than 4,000 residents, Spanish authorities have said.
The blaze has affected some 460 square kilometres and burned around 20 houses and buildings, according to officials, who have urged people not to go near the area in the northwest of the island.
Tourism minister Héctor Gómez told reporters that, thanks to the efforts to combat the blaze overnight, the outlook for bringing it under control had improved.
More than 300 firefighters have been deployed and nine water-carrying helicopters and two planes are being used to try to extinguish the fire. A further 86 members of the army’s Military Emergency Unit were flown to the island on Sunday.
Andy Gregory16 July 2023 14:35
1689512865Spain fire risk in maps
Spain’s civil protection agency has this map showing the wildfire risk across the country, via the national weather service AEMET. The risk level is deemed “extreme” in areas marked in red, and “very high” in those coloured orange.
(AEMET)
Here is the picture on the Canary Islands, where fires are already burning on La Palma:
(AEMET)
Andy Gregory16 July 2023 14:07
1689511005‘Going to the Colosseum is not advisable’: Italian health minister urges public to take care in heat
Authorities are keeping a close eye on temperatures in Rome, Italy’s health minister Orazio Schillaci has said, as he urged the public to look after themselves.
“Going to the Colosseum when it is 43C is not advisable, especially for an elderly person,” he told Il Messaggero newspaper on Sunday, saying people should stay indoors during the hottest part of the day, between 11am and 6pm.
Besides the Italian capital, health alerts were in place from the central city of Florence to Palermo in Sicily and Bari, in the southeast of the peninsula.
Andy Gregory16 July 2023 13:36
1689509237British holidaygoers cancel travel plans over extreme heat
Some British holidaygoers have resorted to cancelling their travel plans in the face of the extreme heat currently scorching parts of Europe.
Paola Deitan, a 29-year-old from Marlborough told The Observer she had decided to head to milder Barcelona after cancelling plans to travel with her best friend to Greece, saying: “Obviously, I am worried about my health. I don’t want anything to happen to me while on holiday.”
Justine Rush, a 53-year-old in Corfu with her husband and teenage children told the paper. “I was expecting it to be hot, maybe 31, but it’s more like 37. It’s properly hot – too hot to go outside in the day, except when you’re in the sea. We’ve had to stay in our room most of the day.
“I don’t normally like to be on the beach all day, but we can’t do anything else. We’ve had to cancel plans to go on a day trip to a nearby town. Luckily we managed to not lose any money.”
An unnamed 61-year-old woman from London on a Mediterranean cruise also told the outlet that that she planned to remain on the boat instead of going on pre-booked excursions “because it will be too hot to do anything really”, adding that she may make future European holiday plans at Easter rather than summer.
Andy Gregory16 July 2023 13:07
1689506984‘Ancient’ heat records to be broken, forecasters warn as Charon arrives in Europe
“Ancient heat records” will be broken in the coming days, forecasters in Italy have warned, as a new anticyclone named after the Greek ferryman of the dead, Charon, pushed into Europe from north Africa on Sunday.
Charon is expected to potentially lift temperatures above 45C in parts of Italy early next week, with red alerts for extreme heat already issued in 16 cities on Sunday, as meteorologists warned of record high temperatures across southern Europe in the days ahead.
“We need to prepare for a severe heat storm that, day after day, will blanket the whole country,” Italian weather news service Meteo.it warned on Sunday. “In some places ancient heat records will be broken.”
Andy Gregory16 July 2023 12:29
1689505193Israeli PM discharged from hospital after ‘not protecting himself’ during 40C heat
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been discharged after an overnight hospital stay for check-ups and monitoring following a dizzy spell doctors said was caused by dehydration.
Mr Netanyahu’s office said he had spent the previous day at the Sea of Galilee, a popular holiday spot in northern Israel where temperatures climbed to about 40C amid a stifling country-wide heat wave.
After a series of tests, the initial assessment was that the veteran Israeli leader was dehydrated, and Mr Netanyahu released a on social media on Saturday night.
Smiling, he said that he had been out in the sun on Friday without wearing a hat and without water. “Not a good idea,” he said.
Doctors ordered him to remain in the hospital overnight for further observation, and his weekly cabinet meeting was delayed by a day and rescheduled for Monday, his office said.
Andy Gregory16 July 2023 11:59
1689501472La Palma residents ‘refusing to leave homes’ as thousands evacuated
Some local residents are refusing to leave their homes in the face of wildfires which have seen at least 4,000 people evacuated, the president of the Canary Islands has said.
The out-of-control fire in La Palma started in the early hours of Saturday in El Pinar de Puntagorda, a wooded area in the north of the island in the Canaries. The blaze forced the evacuation of people from the villages of Puntagorda and neighbouring Tijarafe.
Ten aerial units and 300 firefighters on the ground sought to bring the wildfire under control, and president Fernando Clavijo said that at least 13 houses were destroyed as the fire advanced.
“There has been some resistance by local people to leaving their homes, but I appeal to people to be responsible,” Mr Clavijo told reporters in La Palma.
In Tenerife, another of the eight Canary Islands, a forest fire, which broke out on Saturday, forced the evacuation of 50 people and destroyed about 60 hectares, authorities said.
King Felipe VI of Spain telephoned Mr Clavijo on Saturday to express his support with the people of La Palma, the Spanish royal household said.
Local residents look on at a burning forest fire on La Palma on Saturday
(Europa Press via AP)
Andy Gregory16 July 2023 10:57
1689499312ICYMI: Land temperatures in Spain surpass 60C as deadly heatwave sweeps Europe
The temperature of the ground in some areas of Spain has hit more than 60C during the deadly heatwave sweeping Europe, satellite recordings have shown.
It was so hot that a heat map that highlights scorching temperatures in red turned even darker – to black.
Temperature records have been broken on most of the continent, including France, Switzerland, Germany and Italy, where highs of 40C were recorded again on Wednesday.
My colleague Jane Dalton has more in this report:
Andy Gregory16 July 2023 10:21
1689498069Venetian tourists use umbrellas to shelter from sun
Tourists in Venice have been filmed using umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun, as some 16 red alerts for heat are issued in Italy, including in Rome, Florence and Bologna.
Andy Gregory16 July 2023 10:01
1689496350One third of Americans subject to extreme heat warnings
Around a third of Americans were subject to warnings for extreme heat on Saturday, as the blistering weather was forecast to intensify this weekend in Nevada, Arizona and California.
Temperatures in some desert areas were predicted to soar past 48.8C during the day, and remain above 32.2C overnight.
Around 200 hydration stations distributing bottles of water and cooling centres where potentially thousands of people can rest in air-conditioned spaces opened on Saturday in public spaces like libraries, churches and businesses around the Phoenix area.
Da Hondula, chief heat officer for the City of Phoenix, said that because of the health risks some centres were extending their hours, warning: “This weekend there will be some of the most serious and hot conditions we’ve ever seen.”
Andy Gregory16 July 2023 09:32
