Spain, Portugal, Italy and France have been crushed by heat for several days, with peaks recorded up to 44 degrees.
84 Orange alert departments
In France, the forecasters placed on Monday and Tuesday 84 departments out of the 95 in the country (excluding overseas) in orange vigilance, with temperatures which will be able to exceed 40 degrees, a heat wave called to last at least until the week.
Such a geographic extension, “is unheard of,” said AFP the Minister of Ecological Transition on Sunday evening, Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
Companies were called upon to “protect their employees” and some 200 public schools, out of 45,000, will be partial or total closure on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.
“”With us, in the apartment, it is simply a hell. We live in the dark, it’s an oven“, Said Evan Bernard on Sunday, installed with his 18-month-old son in the shade under the pines, near a lake north of Bordeaux (southwest).
In Madrid, where mercury came close to 40 ° C, “This heat is not normal at this time of year“, Diego Radamés was sorry, a 32 -year -old photographer.
Already on Saturday, Spain had recorded a record, remaining to be confirmed, since the start of the statements, with 46 ° C in Granado, Andalusia (South West). The previous summit was 45.2 ° C in Seville in June 1965.
Record in water too: the Mediterranean exceeds 26 ° C in the Balearic, a threshold “typical in mid-August“, According to the National Meteorology Agency AEMET.
In Italy, 21 cities were on maximum alert on Sunday for extreme heat, notably Milan, Naples, Venice, Florence and Rome, where ambulances park near tourist sites. Canceled visit of the Colosseum, therefore, for the British tourist Anna Becker and her mother …
The emergency services of Italian hospitals reported a 10% increase in heat strokes, according to Mario Guarino, vice-president of the Italian Emergency Medicine Society, “mainly in cities which not only record very high temperatures, but also a higher humidity level“.
Main victims: “The elderly, patients with cancer or homeless people suffering from dehydration, heat strokes, fatigue“he told AFP.
“heat island”
In Venice, guided tours are free for those over 75 in air -conditioned museums and public buildings and in Rome free swimming pools has been set up for those over 70.
In Italy again, “Climatic shelters“Were installed in Bologna and dehumidifiers distributed to the needy in Anne.
“”Heat waves in the Mediterranean region have become more frequent and more intense in recent years, with peaks reaching 37 degrees or even more in cities, where the urban heat effect still increases temperatures“notes Emanuel Piervitali, researcher at the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA).
According to scientists, repeated heat waves are an unequivocal marker of the global warming and these heat waves are called to multiply, lie down and intensify.
According to the IPCC, the group of experts mandated by the UN on the climate, it is “almost certain” that the frequency and intensity of the extreme heat and the duration of the heat waves have increased since 1950 and will continue to increase with warming.
In Portugal, several areas of the southern half of the country, including the capital Lisbon, are on red alert until Monday evening. The risk of fire is also maximum, as in Sicily where the firefighters fought 15 on Saturday.
In the streets of Lisbon, inhabitants and tourists try to protect themselves as they can. “”We advise people to stay in the fridge, but despite that we already have cases of heat and burns“Explains the Sofia Monnteiro pharmacist to AFP-TV.
“”It is difficult to bear. We stop regularly, we drink, this is an opportunity to have a drink“, Also says Cédric Gérard, a French tourist, biologist-pharmacist.