2023-07-15 14:46:02
Heatwave everywhere, coolness nowhere. From Europe to China via the United States, the temperature continues to climb this Saturday, forcing the authorities of many countries to take drastic measures to deal with these heat waves which promise to be deadly.
The European Space Agency, whose satellites monitor land and sea temperatures, has said July could be a scorching month, and halfway through that prediction is not denied. The European record temperature of 48.8°C, recorded in Sicily in August 2021, could even be exceeded soon.
Historic temperature records are expected in Italy, where the red alert will concern sixteen cities from Sunday. In Rome, the mercury could rise to 40°C on Monday, then 42 or 43°C on Tuesday, shattering the previous record of 40.5°C recorded in the capital in August 2007. According to the daily Il Messaggero, two footballers fans aged 48 and 51 died on Friday evening, after illness probably due to the heat, during matches in the Naples region (south).
In Germany, over a large part of the country, temperatures could rise to 38 degrees, according to a press release from the German meteorological service, published on Saturday. Severe thunderstorms are also expected in the west and south-west with a risk of gusts of up to 110 km / h.
In Spain, a violent forest fire broke out in the early hours of this Saturday on the island of La Palma. The Canary Island had already been devastated in 2021 by a volcanic eruption. This time, no volcano is involved, eleven houses have already been destroyed, and at least 500 people had to be evacuated. About 140 ha of land have already been destroyed by the fire, fanned by dry vegetation and driven by a violent wind.
In Greece, the thermometer rose to 44.2 ° C in Thebes, according to the National Observatory of Athens. The government has ordered the suspension of work between noon and 5 p.m. in areas where the risk of heat is very high. The Acropolis which overlooks the capital must, like the day before, close this Saturday at the hottest hours when, according to the meteorological services, temperatures could reach 41 ° C in the country. Visitors have been victims of discomfort in recent days, especially at the top of the Acropolis where they had come to admire the Parthenon, despite the presence of the Greek Red Cross which has planned to distribute “at least 30,000 bottles of 50 cl” per day, explained to AFP the president of the Greek Red Cross, Antonios Avgerinos.
In Mexicali, a city of more than a million people on Mexico’s northern border across from California, temperatures have soared to 50 degrees Celsius this week, forcing many residents to stay indoors. “Sometimes when you’ve been in the heat for a while you get dizzy,” Larreta, a 25-year-old construction worker, told Reuters during a break.
In Phoenix, the thermometer has been soaring for 13 days
A deadly heat wave hit Mexico in June. While the past few weeks have brought relief to more southern regions, the northern states of the country, accustomed to heat, have continued to experience abnormally high temperatures. Researchers from the National Autonomous University of Mexico estimate that the heat this year is aggravated by the drought.
Above the American border, in the United States, a huge area stretching from California to southern Florida, where nearly 100 million people live, is affected by the sweltering heat. And according to the National Weather Service, the situation is expected to worsen over the weekend and continue into next week. In Arizona, Phoenix experienced Friday its 13th consecutive day with a temperature of at least 43 ° C, the forecast predicting that the city will break next week its record of 18 consecutive days, established in June 1974. The situation is all the more hotter than at night, the thermometer does not drop below 32°C. In Las Vegas, accustomed to gambling and desert fever, we expect 47° on Sunday.
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