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.
Temperatures are set to rise to 37 degrees Celsius (99 Fahrenheit) in Rome, driving the Eternal City’s many tourists and pilgrims towards the Italian capital’s 2,500 public fountains for refreshment.
With residents of the southern French port city of Marseille expected to have to cope with temperatures flirting with 40C (104F), 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, while visitors to — and protesters against — Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos’s Friday wedding in Venice likewise sweltered under the summer sun.
“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 Venice, told AFP on Saturday.
“I try not to think about it, but I drink a lot of water and never stay still, because that’s when you get sunstroke,” Sriane Mina, an Italian student, told AFP the day before.
Source: The daily star
