Thomas McIntosh
BBC News
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21 Italian cities, including Rome, Milan and Venice, are the best alerts
Two people have been killed in Italy as temperatures continue to rise amid the intense heat waves across Europe.
In Bologna, a 47-year-old child died ill at a construction site, and a 70-year-old man was reportedly drowned in a flood of tourists west of Turin.
Elsewhere on the continent, tens of thousands of people have evacuated due to wildfires in western Turkey, but the summit of the Eiffel Tower in Paris is closed due to heat waves.
Spain and parts of Portugal recorded record highs in June, with 46C registered in Er Granado, southwestern Spain, the day after the record was broken in Mora, central Portugal.
Spain’s AEMET Meteorological Agency said several locations on the Iberian Peninsula have exceeded 43C, but temperature rest has been ongoing since Thursday.
Night temperatures up to Tuesday recorded 28C in Seville and 27C in Barcelona on Tuesday.
In Turkey, rescuers have evacuated more than 50,000 people – mainly from the western province of Izmir – firefighters have continued to launch hundreds of wildfires that have recently erupted.
The fire wiped out parts of Bilesik, Hatai, Sakariya and Manisa.
Forest Minister Ibrahim Yumakuri said in the past three days that the emergency team had responded to 263 wildfires across the country.
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Residents are evacuated near the resort city of Izmir, Turkey, as wildfires rage
In France, many cities experienced the hottest night and daytime on Monday June, but predictors say the heat wave should be expected to peak on Tuesday.
Climate Minister Agnaise Pannier Ranker called for a “unprecedented” situation.
For the first time in five years, the Paris region, along with 15 other French regions, has activated red alerts. The Ministry of Education says 1,350 public schools will be partially or completely closed on Tuesday.
The 46.6 C (115.9F) measurement was registered on Sunday at Mora, Portugal, about 60 miles east of Lisbon. Portuguese weather officials were working to see if they had set new records for June.
See: Weather Forecast for the Overall Europe
In Italy, local reports show that hospital admissions in the Tuscan region has increased by 20%.
Italians in 21 of the 27 cities are exposed to the highest heat warnings, while 13 regions, including Lombardy and Emilia, are advised not to go outside during the hottest months of the day.
At Lombardy, working outdoors is prohibited from being banned from 12:30 to 16:00 on hot days on buildings, roads and farms until September.
Temperatures in Greece have been approaching 40°C for several days, and wildfires have struck several coastal towns near the capital Athens, destroying homes and evacuating people.
See: “Slightly melted” – the intense heat throughout Europe
Some of the UK were shy about being one of the hottest June days of all time on Monday.
The highest British temperature of the day was recorded at London’s Heathrow Airport at 33.1c. Meanwhile, Wimbledon recorded a temperature of 32.9c, the hottest opening day in the tennis tournament.
In Germany, the country’s weather services warned that temperatures could reach nearly 38C on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Rhine heat wave has reduced levels – main transport routes – limiting the volume of cargo ships allows for increased transport and freight costs.
The Balkan countries are also suffering from intense heat, but temperatures are beginning to cool. Wildfires have also been reported in Montenegro.
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The summit of Eiffel Tower will be closed all day on July 1 and July 2, officials said
Heat waves are a potential health problem, but they also affect the environment. Higher temperatures in the Adriatic Sea promote invasive species such as toxic lionfish, causing even more stress on alpine glaciers, which are already shrinking at record rates.
Volker Turk, the UN’s human rights director, warned on Monday that the heat wave highlighted the need for climate adaptation. This means moving away from practices and energy sources such as fossil fuels, which are the main causes of climate change.
“Rises in temperatures, rising oceans, floods, droughts and wildfires threaten our rights to our lives, health, a clean, healthy and sustainable environment,” he told the UN Human Rights Council.
According to the UN Intergovernmental Commission on Climate Change, human-caused climate change has made heat waves more common.
He said as the planet continues to warm, extreme heat will occur more frequently and even more intense.
Richard Allan, a professor of climate science at the UK’s Reading University, explained that rising greenhouse gas levels make it difficult for the planet to lose excess heat.
“A warm, thirsty atmosphere is more effective than the drying of the soil. This means that the heat wave is intensifying and moderate thermal events are at extreme rates.”
