Europe boils after first summer heatwave

Paris: Southern Europeans braced Saturday for their first heatwave of the northern hemisphere summer, as climate change pushes thermometers on the world's fastest-warming continent increasingly into the red.

Scientists have long warned that humanity's burning of fossil fuels is heating up the world with disastrous consequences for the environment. Europe's ever-hotter and increasingly common blistering summer heatwaves are a direct result of that warming, they argue.

In Italy, 17 cities - from Milan in the north to Palermo in the south - were put on red alert for high temperature, with peaks recorded of 39 degrees Celsius (12 Fahrenheit).


In Rome, the high temperatures drove the Eternal City's many tourists and pilgrims towards its 2,500 public fountains for refreshment.

"There is no wind, a lot of humidity, we are sweating, and I'm suffocating at night," Alejandra Echeverria, a 40-year-old Mexican tourist to the city, told AFP on Saturday.

In France, as temperatures in the southern port city of Marseille flirted with 40C, the city's authorities ordered public swimming pools be free of charge to help residents beat the Mediterranean heat.

Two-thirds of Portugal will be on high alert on Sunday for extreme heat and forest fires, with 42C (108F) expected in the capital Lisbon.

The heatwave is forecast to become even more intense on Sunday.

Spain, which has in past years seen a series of deadly summer blazes, is expecting peak temperatures in excess of 40C (104F) across most of the country.

According to AEMET, Spain's meteorological agency, El Granado in the southwest Huelva region recorded 46 Celsius (114F), which if confirmed would be the hottest temperature ever recorded in Spain during June.