Vienna/Rome, Aug. 5 (SANA) Austria recorded its highest temperature on record on Tuesday as a prolonged heatwave continued to affect parts of Europe, while Italy raised heat warnings to their highest level across major cities and wildfires spread in several countries.
Austria’s national weather service said temperatures reached 40.8 degrees Celsius in Vienna’s Stammersdorf district, surpassing the previous national record of 40.5 degrees Celsius recorded on Aug. 8, 2013, in Bad Deutsch-Altenburg in eastern Austria.
The weather agency said Austria experienced its fourth-hottest July since records began, while rainfall deficits reached 90% at some monitoring stations.
It added that apricots ripened around 20 days earlier than their average period between 1961 and 1991, describing the early harvest as an indicator of the impact of rising temperatures on agriculture.
The latest heat surge follows months of unusually hot and dry conditions that have broken several local temperature records. Austria also recorded its longest heatwave in June, with unprecedented temperatures reported at 66 weather stations across the country.
Italy raises heat alert to highest level
Italy‘s Health Ministry raised heat warnings to the highest level across the country’s major cities on Tuesday as the country experienced its fourth heatwave of the summer.
A ministry spokesperson told Reuters that 25 cities were under red alerts on Tuesday and Wednesday, with all 27 major cities expected to be placed under the highest warning level from Thursday after Messina and Reggio Calabria in southern Italy were added to the alert list.
The spokesperson said this was the first time this year that red alerts had been issued for all major cities.
Italian authorities advised residents in affected areas to avoid direct exposure to sunlight, particularly between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., stay indoors when possible and drink plenty of fluids.
A red alert indicates a potential health emergency, as prolonged high temperatures can pose risks to all age groups, including healthy people.
Temperatures reached 40 degrees Celsius in parts of Italy, with little relief expected before the end of the week. Meteorologists said the heatwave is being driven by a high-pressure system from North Africa that strengthened over the Mediterranean and extended across large parts of Europe.
Wildfires spread across southern Europe
Wildfires fueled by strong winds have affected parts of France, Spain and Greece, including areas near Athens, as authorities continue firefighting operations and evacuations.
Emergency crews withdrew from areas near Porto Germeno, overlooking the Gulf of Corinth, about 60 kilometers northwest of Athens, as flames and smoke approached forests and residential areas.
Across Europe, repeated heatwaves, record temperatures and low rainfall have contributed to widespread wildfires this summer. Villages have been destroyed in France and Spain, while hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes and tourist areas.
In Greece, strong winds fueled fires in several regions after a relatively calm wildfire season earlier in the summer.
In France, a wildfire in the southeastern Var region reignited after being brought under control three days earlier, spreading across more than 1,000 hectares within six hours.
Spain reports mixed wildfire developments
Spain continued battling several wildfire hotspots after the government ended a national emergency linked to major fires in central regions.
Authorities said conditions worsened in Leon province in northern Spain, where a new fire broke out on Friday evening, while another remained active and a third showed signs of improvement.
In neighboring Zamora province, authorities reported progress in containing a fire that burned around 11,000 hectares, allowing 14 evacuated towns to reopen.
In Castellon province in eastern Spain, the Vall d’Uixo fire was contained after burning around 10,000 hectares, allowing evacuated residents to return home.
Heat-related deaths reported across Europe
Austria’s national health and food safety agency reported 395 heat-related deaths in June, while around half of the country’s weather stations recorded temperatures of at least 35 degrees Celsius during the month.
The United Kingdom estimated that 2,877 people had died from heat-related causes since the start of the year. France recorded 5,764 excess deaths between June 17 and July 2, while Germany’s Robert Koch Institute estimated that 9,800 people had died since the start of the year due to high temperatures.
R A H / ABD
