The first heat waves of the summer are hitting Europe, triggering wildfires and health warnings. Weather forecasters say such phenomena are becoming more common each year.
Extreme heat is being felt across Europe, with more in store over the coming days. Though the Wimbledon tennis tournament says it is bracing for its hottest-ever start with temperatures expected to be around 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), southern countries like Spain, Italy, and Greece look set to see temperatures that are far higher still.
In all, high temperatures are expected to affect the entire Mediterranean, from the Iberian Peninsula to the Balkans.
In Andalusia, in southern Spain, temperatures are set to climb to 43 C in aheatwave forecastto last until late next week. Spain's AEMET state weather service has also forecast high temperatures in the country's northeastern Zaragoza area.
Spain says medical emergency staff expect to see a surge inheatstroke casesamong children, the elderly and those with chronic illness.
Temperatures over 40 C are also expected in neighboring Portugal, where fire warnings have been given for northern inland areas as well as along the Algarve coast.
In Greece, which is also experiencing itsfirst heat wave of the seasonwith temperatures surpassing 40 C, awildfire has triggered evacuations south of the capital, Athens, where coast guard ships and fire-dousing helicopters areactively fighting the blaze. Patrol boats have been deployed to the area for a potential sea evacuation.
Here, too, high temperatures and strong winds have worsened the situation.
Athens and its surrounding areas remain on high fire alert due to the prevailing conditions.
The Meteo France weather agency declared this week that the country is experiencing its 50th national heat wave since 1947, with several regions under high-temperature alert.
The weather agency saidhigher surface temperatures in the Mediterraneanhad become an "aggravating factor," meaning that daytime temperatures could reach upwards of 39 C and little respite should be expected at night.
In Italy, 21 cities, including the capital, Rome, have been put under extreme temperature alert. Another city on the list is Venice, wherebillionaire American businessman Jeff Bezos is making a TV presenter his second wifeamong crowds of celebrity guests as well as protesters in the tourist destination.
Across the Adriatic, Croatian, Bosnian and Serbian authorities also issued health warnings as temperatures rose and as wildfires raged in Albania.
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All across the EU,residents are being advisedto remain indoors during the hottest part of the day if possible — generally from about 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. — though meteorologists say little cooling should be expected at night over the next week.
Though early summer heat waves were known in the past, meteorologists say they are becoming far more frequent as a result of what they say is human-induced climate change.
Statistics from scientists at AEMET in Spain, for instance, documented only two June heat waves between 1975 and 2000. Nine were recorded between 2000 and 2024.