‘Unprecedented’ heatwave in Europe ‘could continue for weeks’

Wildfires have struck in a number of countries across southern Europe (Picture: AFP/REX/Getty)

Europe’s latest heatwave is forecast to reach its highest peak yet later today – and the ‘unprecedented’ sweltering weather may continue for weeks to come.

After days of sweating through Cerberus, people in southern Europe were beginning to feel the effects of its scorching successor Charon yesterday.

Holidaymakers were evacuated from resorts in the area surrounding Athens after wildfires broke out.

A cooling wind that provided some respite for Greeks suffering in the heat ended up causing the flames to spread even faster and more widely.

Fires have also been reported in Spain’s Canary Islands and, late last night, the ski resort of Riederalp in Switzerland where 200 firefighters were sent to tackle a blaze.

The worst of the heat is expected to be concentrated on the islands of Italy, though, with forecasts predicting Sardinia may reach up to 47C later today.

Sicily holds the record for Europe’s highest official temperature ever, after meteorologists measured 48.8C in the town of Floridia in August 2021.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said yesterday it is possible this record may be broken in the coming days as the heatwave intensifies.

Experts from the UN agency suggest the hot weather may last for weeks too, saying: ‘A further continuation into August is likely.’

Italian meteorological society president Luca Mercalli told the MailOnline: ‘Even if that record is not broken, we are seeing a heatwave the length of which is unprecedented.’

Professor Randall Cerveny from the WMO said: ‘If there are any new extreme temperature records during the ongoing heatwaves, we will issue a quick preliminary assessment and then start detailed evaluations as part of our painstaking verification process.’

British tourists were among those who had to flee Greek towns as yesterday’s wildfire approached.

The blaze started in Kouvaras – 30 miles from the Greek capital of Athens – forcing hundreds to evacuate.

Yannis Artopios, a firefighters spokesman, said: ‘It’s a difficult fire, the winds are really strong, with gusts reaching up to 37 miles per hour.

‘We are in the middle of the period of fighting fires. The conditions expected will be particularly difficult and favour forest fires.’

Yesterday, power cuts were reported in parts of Rome as temperatures creep past the mid-thirties and towards 40C.

The Associated Press said the outages had been caused by the heavy demand for air conditioners, which is putting pressure on the Italian electricity grid.

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Greece, Spain and Switzerland have all had to face wildfires in the past couple of days.