Hundreds of people were evacuated and several fires broke out in Greece on Monday, while the mercury exceeded 40°C in many parts of Europe. In China, a new heat record was set and fires continue to ravage North America.
Twelve hundred children had to be evacuated from holiday camps threatened by flames fanned by violent winds near Loutraki, about 80km west of Athens.
In Kouvaras, about 50km east of the Greek capital, another fire has spread to Avavissos, a densely populated area of Attica, 40km southeast of Athens, while Greece has been hit by a heat wave of more than 44°C in the center of its territory since Thursday.
In Cyprus, where temperatures are expected to exceed 40 degrees until Thursday, a 90-year-old man died on Sunday and three elderly people were hospitalized with heatstroke, officials said.
43°C in Sicily, 44 in southern Spain
In Italy, records were not broken on Monday, with Rome hitting 39 degrees Celsius in the shade. The highest temperature, 43 degrees Celsius, was recorded in Agrigento, Sicily and Taranto in Puglia in the south.
A peak of heat is expected on Tuesday in the island of Sardinia, where the mercury will approach 48°C.
In Spain, already a week out, the weather agency issued an orange warning on Monday.
In the southern part of Murcia, 44°C was recorded locally, with 42 near Alicante.
The situation will worsen on Tuesday as temperatures will be “10 to 15 degrees Celsius” above normal at some places. The warning will turn red over Aragon (north), Catalonia (northeast) and the island of Mallorca (east), with 42° to 44° expected.
The sweltering heat will last through Thursday before tapering off.
“Tropicalization of Climate”
In Europe, warming is twice as fast as the global average, experts note, and Mediterranean countries are particularly affected.
“The warm air that usually descends on the African ridges that create deserts has moved towards Europe. In this sense, we can talk about the tropicalization of the climate,” explains Claudio Cassardo, a meteorologist and professor at the University of Turin.
Sometimes the situation is more delicate for workers exposed to very high temperatures.
Megafires in Canada
In the United States, weather services are predicting multiple temperature records after observing an “oppressive” heat wave in the South.
In the famous Death Valley in California, one of the hottest places on the planet, the thermometer showed 52 degrees Celsius on Sunday.
Several violent fires in the south of the state have destroyed more than 3000 hectares and led to evacuations.
Other parts of the United States are at risk of severe weather.
“Severe thunderstorms, heavy rain and flooding are possible in many places,” particularly in New England, the National Weather Service warned.
In Canada, where more than ten million hectares have already burned this year, 882 fires were still active on Monday, including 579 out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center (CIFFC).
Officials said two firefighters died fighting the mega fire.
Heat stroke in Japan and China
Japan issued heat stroke warnings on Monday for 32 of its 47 prefectures, which are experiencing an all-time high of 41.1 degrees Celsius reached in 2018.
The country is reeling from torrential rains that have killed at least eight people.
Meanwhile, China broke a record for mid-July on Sunday, with 52.2°C in the driest part of Xinjiang (west).
This article was published automatically. Sources: ats / afp
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