European heatwave to continue for weeks’ with today expected to be the hottest
The European heatwave is 'unprecedented and will continue for weeks' with today expected to be the hottest yet hitting 47C in Italy while thousands of holidaymakers have been evacuated from homes and resorts in Greece.
Sardinia is expected to see peak temperatures of 47C today, edging ever closer to the European record of 48.8C set in Sicily two years ago, as Brits and other holidaymakers are warned about the life-threatening heat.
And the heatwave shows no signs of ending, as officials from the World Meteorological Organisation forecast that the extreme weather is likely to continue into August in some places. The UN has said new temperature records have already been set in the parts of the northern hemisphere.
Italian meteorological society president Luca Mercalli said: ‘Even if that record [48.8C] is not broken, we are seeing a heatwave the length of which is unprecedented,’ according to The Telegraph.
Switzerland is the latest country to see wildfires as police ordered the evacuation of several mountain villages late on Monday as a forest fire spread.
About 200 firefighters, army, police and other partners worked alongside helicopters to douse the flames in the canton of Valais throughout the afternoon but it continued to burn. Temperatures in Valais are set to exceed 30C.
Greece, which recorded 44C heat on Monday, started mass evacuations yesterday afternoon after a blaze which broke out in the village of Kouvaras forced hundreds of holidaymakers to flee.
The wildfire, which started just 30 miles from the Greek capital of Athens, spread south towards the seaside resorts of Lagonisi, Anavyssos and Saronida and authorities have told residents to leave the area.
