Greece ‘like Africa’ as Europeans melt in deadly heatwave forecast to smash record

Phone heat alerts prepared in Italy and Spain, as working hours changed and wildfire wrecks village in Croatia

Europe’s highest ever recorded temperature – 48.8C (119.8F) – could be breached in Sicily and Sardinia next week (Reuters)

Conditions in Greece have been compared to those in Africa as southern Europeans suffer through a heatwave forecast to only worsen in the coming days.

Europe’s highest ever recorded temperature – 48.8C (119.8F) – could be breached in Sicily and Sardinia next week and Spain is expected to reach 45C, experts say.

Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Poland and Croatia have all been hit, and officials in several countries have been preparing emergency measures, including mobile phone heat alerts.

Rescue workers take a visitor from the Acropolis to an ambulance (AFP via Getty Images)

“It’s like being in Africa,” said 24-year-old tourist Balint Jolan, from Hungary. “It’s not that much hotter than it is currently at home, but yes, it is difficult.”

Officials in Athens shut the ancient Acropolis for several hours on Friday to protect visitors as the Greek meteorological service forecast temperatures peaking at 41C in the city.

Read live updates on Europe’s heatwave here

Hellenic Red Cross workers handed out bottled water to tourists in long queues fanning themselves, and paramedics gave first aid to tourists fainting and suffering dehydration.

The mercury on Acropolis Hill is usually even higher due to its altitude and lack of shade, but the last-minute decision left some people frustrated. “I even bought a €50 ticket to skip the line to enter and I couldn’t enter the place,” one said.

Elsewhere in Athens, tourists huddled under mist machines.

There and in other Greek cities, working hours were changed for the public sector and many businesses to avoid the midday heat, while air-conditioned areas were opened to the public.

Volunteers try to put out the wildfire in Grebastica (AP)

In the Spanish capital, Madrid, zoo animals were fed fruit ice pops, while authorities in Cyprus urged residents to avoid forest areas where wildfires could be sparked accidentally.

Swathes of the Balkans also sweltered. In Croatia, the village of Grebastica near the Adriatic coast was devastated by a wildfire that destroyed cars and homes. Dozens of firefighters and three aircraft struggled to contain the blaze that spread rapidly due to strong southerly winds.

The Earth steamed to its hottest June on record, smashing the previous global mark by nearly a quarter of a degree, with global oceans setting temperature records for the third month running, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – considered the gold standard for record-keeping.

Europe’s monster heatwave, called Cerberus, has already claimed at least one life as it brought temperatures surpassing 104F (40C) across the continent this week. On Tuesday, the land surface temperature in parts of the Spanish region Extremadura exceeded 140F (60C).

Tourists used umbrellas for shade at the Parthenon (AP)

A 44-year-old man painting road markings in northern Italy collapsed and died.

Many people are worried about next week, when the heat in the country is expected to intensify, and temperatures are forecast to climb to above 45C (113F) in the centre and south, under a new heatwave named Cheron.

According to La Repubblica, the heat this weekend could be trumped by 12C in the following days, particularly in Tuscany and Lazio.

If so, it would break Europe’s current record of 48.8 Celsius recorded in Sicily in August 2021.

The impact of such extremities has been brought into focus by a new study that found up to 61,000 people died in Europe’s sweltering heat last summer. The forecast has also raised fears about the impact on crops and animals.

A man cools off at a fountain in Rome (Reuters)

The European Space Agency said: “Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Poland are all facing a major heatwave, with temperatures expected to climb to 48 degrees Celsius on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia – potentially the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Europe.”

Emergency services in Turkey have been grappling with both fires and floods, in which three people have died.

“While there are heat and fires on one side of the country, there are floods and deluges on the other,” said deputy agriculture minister Veysel Tiryaki.

Cornell University climate scientist Natalie Mahowald said: “We are just getting a small taste for the types of impacts that we expect to worsen under climate change.”

Climate scientist Friederike Otto of the Imperial College of London said: “Until we stop burning fossil fuels, this will only get worse. Heat records will keep getting broken, people and ecosystems are already in many cases beyond what they are able to deal with.”

Additional reporting by agencies