Crowds of tourists visit the Parthenon on the Acropolis Hill.
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Greece closed its ancient acropolis to protect tourists during the hottest part of the day on Friday, while villagers in Croatia cleaned up after wildfires as a fierce heatwave swept across southern Europe.
In Italy, there are concerns over the coming days, with heat expected to intensify in the center and south of the country next week, with temperatures rising above 45C (113F).
Italian meteorologists have dubbed the next stage of the heat wave “Charon”, referring to the Greek mythology of the ferryman of the souls of the dead. This week’s “Cerberus” is named after the three-headed hellhound. The European Space Agency (ESA), which monitors land and ocean temperatures, has warned that Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Poland are all facing extreme conditions.
Temperatures could break Europe’s current record – 48.8 degrees Celsius in Sicily in August 2021. The impact of extreme summer heat has come into focus after a study this week suggested that as many as 61,000 people may have died in the heat across Europe last summer.
Joan Ballester, a professor at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, said France had learned lessons from its deadly 2003 heatwave, and countries such as Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal could follow suit.
“Some measures are relatively cheap, such as coordinating public entities to conduct censuses of vulnerable groups,” said Ballester, a co-author of this week’s study.
“But there are more expensive measures, such as redesigning cities to improve housing conditions,” he told Reuters.
acropolis not now
In Athens, authorities closed the Acropolis Hill, home to the Parthenon, which is visited by millions of tourists between noon and 5pm (0900-1400GMT) each year.
Greece’s meteorological service expects a midday high of 41C in Athens, but sites overlooking the Greek capital are often hotter due to their higher altitude and lack of shade.
In Croatia, 56 firefighters with 20 vehicles and three planes fought to battle a bushfire that spread rapidly on Thursday due to strong southerly winds near the Adriatic town of Šibenik.
The village of Grebastika was devastated by the fire, with cars and houses destroyed.
Greece’s Civil Protection Ministry on Friday warned of the risk of forest fires in five regions and told people to avoid any tasks that could start fires, such as burning weeds.
Poor older people with existing health problems are most at risk, doctors have warned.
“They have heart attacks, chronic bronchitis, strokes, kidney failure,” said Angel Abad of the Sustainability Office at La Paz Hospital in Madrid.
“Most people come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and we know that people without air conditioning are more vulnerable in these situations. They face higher risks and higher mortality rates when they arrive at the emergency room,” said preventive medicine expert Abad added. and public health experts.