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MADRID (AP) – Spain suffered what it expected to be its hottest day of the year on Saturday, with temperatures exceeding 45 degrees Celsius (113 F), as Italian authorities focused at 16 the number of cities on red alert for health risks. the heat wave ravaged southern Europe.
In the province of Granada in southern Spain, where the mercury reached 45.4 degrees Celsius (113.7 ° C) by 4 p.m., few people ventured outside. Those who did sought shade and stopped to take pictures of public thermometers showing the rising temperatures.
Ice cream parlors did a quick business, and some restaurants installed sprinklers to spray water mists on sweaty guests.
Miriam García, a student, wished she hadn’t gone out.
“It’s very hot, we have to drink water and put on sunscreen all the time, stopping every now and then for a drink in a bar,” she said. “It would be better to be at home than in the street, it’s so hot!
Dominic Royé, climatologist at the University of Santiago de Compostela, said the hot air from the Sahara Desert that has brought days of heat and fueled hundreds of forest fires in Mediterranean countries does not show no sign of ending anytime soon.
“The heatwave we are currently experiencing is very extreme and a lot of people say it is normal, as we are in summer. But it’s not, not that hot, ”Roye said.
With nighttime temperatures expected to exceed 25 degrees Celsius (77 F) across much of Spain, Royé worried about residents who couldn’t afford air conditioning and other vulnerable people, such as the homeless or outdoor workers.
“The more intense the heat, the higher the risk of death,” he said. “When you have high nighttime temperatures, our bodies cannot rest. The body works and works to cool itself. We found a strong link between mortality and nighttime temperatures above 20 degrees (68 degrees).
Italian authorities have also raised concerns about the elderly and others at risk by expanding heat warnings to 16 cities.
Temperatures in the mid-40s Celsius (113-114.8 F) were predicted for the Sicilian cities of Palermo and Catania, and up to 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 F) for Rome, Florence and Bologna, all places that the Ministry of Health has put in place. Red alert.
Italians sought respite from the sea and the mountains of the aptly named anticyclone Lucifer which brought warm air from Africa during the peak summer holiday weekend in Italy.
The high temperatures were to continue until Sunday, the traditional festival of Ferragosto during the religious feast of the Assumption of Mary, which marks the exodus of the summer holidays from Italian cities.
In Rome, water fountains brought relief, while authorities kept tourists away from ornamental fountains like the famous Trevi Fountain, fearing imitators of Anita Ekberg’s immersion in “La Dolce Vita”.
“I put my head under water at each fountain, I drink a lot, I stay in the shade as much as I can,” said Alessia Pagani, who came from the city of Brescia, in the north of the country.
High humidity accompanied the high temperatures, making it even hotter. Storms in the north are expected to bring the first signs of relief from Monday.
“More than anything else, the fresh Atlantic air will bring freshness and greater ventilation that will sweep away moisture and make the air much more breathable,” Lt. Col. Filippo Petrucci of the meteorological service of the Italian Air Force. TV.
The heatwave exacerbated the forest fires that consumed the forests of southern Italy, Greece, Turkey and North Africa.
Climatologists say there is no doubt that climate change due to the combustion of coal, oil and natural gas leads to extreme events, like heat waves, droughts, forest fires, floods and storms.
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Colleen Barry contributed from Milan.
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Follow AP’s coverage of climate issues on https://apnews.com/hub/climate-change
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