Pleasant weather is now relative in Europe. Take Rome, for example, where the temperatures on Friday remained between 35 and 37 degrees below the 40 degree mark. In Germany, with plenty of clouds and one or two thunderstorms, there is no hot weekend ahead. The situation is different in Greece: there is simply no end to the heat in sight.
Greece, up to 45 degrees
For Greece it is already the third heat wave this year. At the weekend, temperatures in the south of the country could climb up to 45 degrees. The thermometer will also show values around 40 degrees in the north. The heat is particularly bad for the people in Athens: the metropolis with its high-rise buildings and street canyons stores it so effectively that the residents can hardly cool down at night.
A tourist cools off at a drinking fountain in Athens.
(Photo: Socrates Baltagiannis/dpa)
The risk of forest fires is still extremely high, the Greek civil defense warned. Athens and the surrounding area, the island of Euboea and the north-east of the Peloponnese peninsula are particularly affected. The second highest level of fire danger was also declared for the holiday islands of Rhodes and Samos. “We have even more difficult times ahead of us,” said a spokesman for the fire brigade on state television on Saturday morning.
Hundreds of firefighters from Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia and Malta have already arrived to help. The fires in the Athens area and on the Peloponnese peninsula are now under control, it said in the morning. But the fires flare up again and again because everything has dried up. The most difficult fire is currently raging near Laerma on Rhodes.
According to meteorologists, the heat wave in Greece will continue next week, with minor fluctuations. A new peak with temperatures around 46 degrees is expected in the south of the country on Wednesday.
Italy, up to 40 degrees
The heat wave has subsided a little caronte in Italy. For now at least. According to the weather portal “Il Meteo”, around 34 degrees are expected in Rome, Bologna and Florence for the weekend. In the southern regions of the mainland as well as in Sardinia and Sicily, however, there could be around 40 degrees again in some places. Next week, the Mediterranean country is expecting extremely high temperatures again – up to 40 degrees in the capital Rome, and it should be even hotter in the south.
A woman protects herself with a parasol in front of the Colosseum in Rome.
(Photo: Andrea Ronchini/IMAGO/NurPhoto)
The Italian newspaper, for example, is particularly concerned La Republica for the old and the weak. On Saturday it said: “We are no longer faced with an unknown pandemic that has claimed thousands of victims in Italy in a short time, but with recurring and increasingly extreme phenomena that we can do something about.” Just like during the public health emergency, the old and the weak are hit the hardest. In order to avoid heat deaths, it is necessary to organize life and work in such a way that one can protect oneself. “Workers who are forced to work outdoors must have the right to stop work if the outside temperature is too high.”
Meanwhile, tourism in Italy is booming, and the industry is expecting a record summer. Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) is also vacationing here. On his arrival in Bologna, however, he questioned Italy’s future as a holiday destination: “Climate change is destroying southern Europe. An era is coming to an end,” he wrote on Twitter a few days ago.
The reaction was not long in coming. Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè was irritated: In Italy, people are still looking forward to being able to welcome Lauterbach back as a holidaymaker, it said. “We are sure that Germans will continue to appreciate vacations in Italy,” says Santanchè.
Spain, 40 degrees plus
It was also tolerable in Spain recently, in Madrid, for example, 32 degrees were measured on Friday. The Sunday on which the national parliamentary elections also take place is supposed to be hot. As the state meteorological service “Aemet” predicted, 40 degrees plus are expected in parts of southern Spain.
People have a rest on a hot and sunny summer day in Madrid.
(Photo: Manu Fernandez/dpa)
Last week Spain suffered the peak of its current heatwave, giving the country multiple temperature records. In eight communities and towns on Mallorca it was hotter on Tuesday than it has ever been since records began. The highest value was reported by “Aemet” from Sa Pobla around 40 kilometers northeast of the island’s capital, Palma: 43.9 degrees. The country’s highest value was recorded on Tuesday at 45.4 degrees in Figueres in the north-east of the country. “Spain is melting,” was the headline in the digital newspaper OK Diary.
Germany, 18 to 30 degrees
Things are very different at the moment, especially in northern Germany. The German Weather Service (DWD) expects a lot of clouds and one or two rain and thunderstorms for the weekend. Hardly anyone should sweat, on Saturday the maximum values on the North Sea and the surrounding area are below 20 degrees – lows of up to eight degrees are possible there at night. It’s dog days (from July 23rd to August 23rd) – and they are generally considered the hottest of the year.
In a Berlin apartment, the fan runs in front of the window. It shouldn’t be that hot at the weekend.
(Photo: Annette Riedl/dpa)
In the southwest of Germany, on the other hand, the sun is likely to shine for a long time, it will remain dry. With highs between 22 and 27 degrees, it is pleasantly summery. On Sunday it will be very warm again in the south and south-east – with up to 30 degrees in south-east Bavaria. It will remain mostly dry. Otherwise, numerous clouds can be seen, rain is to be expected again and again. In the northwest half, the temperatures are significantly cooler than in the south, with a maximum of 18 to 24 degrees.