The heat wave in the Mediterranean will continue next week and there are several countries on alert
A photo taken on August 4, 2022 in Les Brenets shows the dry bed of Brenets Lake (Lac des Brenets), part of the Doubs River, the natural border between eastern France and western Switzerland, while much of Europe was heats up in a third heat wave since June. (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)
The heat wave affecting Mediterranean coastal regions across Europe will continue into next week as numerous countries issued weather advisories.
Data provided by EUMETNET, the European Meteorological Services Network, indicates that heat alerts have been issued across large parts of the coastal regions of Italy and France due to concerns about heat illness and dehydration, with temperatures reaching they will reach 30 degrees Celsius or more during the weekend.
France is suffering the “most serious drought in its history” and it is feared that the situation could worsen, French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said on Friday.
“France is experiencing a prolonged period of drought that is already affecting the entire territory. This drought is the most serious ever recorded in our country,” said Borne announcing the opening of an interministerial unit for coordination of the drought crisis.
“The lack of rain is aggravated by the accumulation of successive heat waves that reinforce evaporation and water needs. Weather forecasts suggest that the situation could persist for the next 15 days, or even become more worrying,” he added.
Although the French metrological service Météo France forecast a “heat wave of less intensity than the previous one” and a drop in temperatures, it also said that local maximums of up to 39°C (102 Fahrenheit) were still possible near the Mediterranean and in the Rhone valley.
In the province of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, in the southeast of the country, the fire is still active, but the local authorities affirm that “there are no human or material goods directly threatened” and that the crisis unit has been closed.
Neighboring Italy will continue to suffer from a torrid heat wave that has affected Italy for weeks. This Friday, three cities received the red alert label, and 16 cities – from northern Trieste to southern Palermo – are expected to receive red alerts on Saturday, according to the Italian Ministry of Health.
A red alert in Italy means that the general population — as opposed to the elderly and the frail — could be affected by the heat wave. Temperatures in Milan reached 102 Fahrenheit (39°C) on Friday, according to the Italian Air Force.
The director of the Stelvio cable cars, on one of the most famous glaciers for summer skiing, Umberto Capitani told CNN that the lifts had been closed since July 20 due to high temperatures. Capitani said that in his twenty years of professional experience, the ski lifts had never closed in July in the country.
“We have had days when the freezing point was constantly above 4 thousand meters. The heat and humidity do not allow the snow to freeze even at night and therefore cracks can open”, Capitani said citing security.
Rain and strong winds are expected in many areas of northern Italy for this Saturday, according to what the Italian civil protection reported this Friday.
Temperatures in Spain exceeded 35 degrees Celsius on Friday in large areas of the southern half of the peninsula and areas of the northern plateau.
Forecasts indicate that the heat will probably affect the countries until next week, especially around the Iberian Peninsula.
In Greece, firefighters preemptively evacuated the village of Ano Vlychada in the western Attica region, with 55 firefighters with 15 fire trucks and three helicopters fighting a forest fire, according to the brigade. The Greek public broadcaster ERT reported that the situation had improved on Friday afternoon.