Updated: 12:30pm (AEST)
Rome, Italy
Reuters
Italy issued hot weather red alerts for 16 cities on Sunday, with meteorologists warning that temperatures will hit record highs across southern Europe in the coming days.
A person seeks shelter from the heat in Rome. PICTURE: Reuters/Guglielmo Mangiapne
EXTREME HEAT SIZZLES US WEST AS DEADLY FLASH FLOODS PERSIST IN NORTH-EAST
An extreme heatwave peaked in the western United States on Sunday, with temperatures reaching 53 Celsius in the California desert, while flash flooding continued to menace the north-east, killing at least five people.
Nearly a quarter of the US population fell under extreme heat advisories, partly due to a stubborn heat dome that has been parked over western states. While baking parts of the country, the heat dome has also helped generate heavy rains in the Northeast, a pattern expected to continue for days if not weeks, according to the National Weather Service.
In Bucks County, Pennsylvania, just north of Philadelphia, downpours and flash flooding over the weekend killed at least five people. Nearly 17 centimetres of rain fell on the area in 45 minutes late Saturday, Upper Makefield Township Fire Chief Tim Brewer told a press conference, claiming five lives as vehicles were swept away. Two children aged nine and two remained missing.
“We continue to look for the two children,” Brewer said. “We are not going to give up regardless. The weather is a factor but at this point we are going to continue the operations and have already set things in motion for tomorrow as well.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Sunday urged residents in her state to avoid travel until the rain passes, saying that “your car can go from a place of safety to a place of death” if swept up in a flash flood.
The rains were expected to ease on Monday but nonetheless created havoc throughout much of the north-east in recent days, with Vermont in particular reporting catastrophic flooding in its capital Montpelier.
The heat warnings spread from the Pacific Northwest, down through California, through the south-west and into the Deep South and Florida.
Death Valley, California, officially reached 53 degrees Celsius on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service, although the famed temperature display sign outside the Furnace Creek Visitors Center showed 133 F (56 C).
Furnace Creek in Death Valley recorded the hottest recognised temperature ever on Earth at 56.7 degrees Celcius in July, 1913, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
Expecting to see history made, about two dozen tourists gathered around the sign and cheered on Sunday when the digital display of 132 ticked up to 133. People snapped pictures while US National Park rangers stood by in case anyone succumbed to the heat.
“It’s my first time being here so I feel it would be really cool to be here for the hottest day ever on Earth for my first time,” said Kayla Hill, 24, of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Phoenix marked its 17th consecutive day over 43 degrees Celsius and is forecast to tie the June, 1974, record of 18 straight days over 43 degrees Celsius on Monday and extend the record for at least another week.
The National Weather Service said widespread record-breaking high temperatures are likely to be recorded across the Southwest, in the western Gulf Coast and also in south Florida.
Temperatures between 37.7 and and 43 degres Celsius are forecast for portions of the Pacific Northwest. That could be particularly dangerous for an area unaccustomed to excessive heat, as many homes do not have central air conditioning. Meanwhile southern Europe is enduring a punishing heatwave.
Scientists say fossil fuel-driven climate change is heralding more extreme weather like that seen in the US in recent days, warning that the world needs to drastically cut carbon emissions to prevent its catastrophic effects.
– JORGE GARCIA and BRAD BROOKS, Lubock, Texas/Reuters
Spain, Italy and Greece have been experiencing scorching temperatures for several days already, damaging agriculture and leaving tourists scurrying for shade.
But a new anti-cyclone dubbed Charon, who in Greek mythology was the ferryman of the dead, pushed into the region from north Africa on Sunday and could lift temperatures above 45 Celsius in parts of Italy early this week.
“We need to prepare for a severe heat storm that, day after day, will blanket the whole country,” Italian weather news service Meteo.it warned on Sunday.
“In some places ancient heat records will be broken.”
Greece closed the ancient Acropolis during the hottest part of the day on Friday to protect tourists.
Italy’s Health Minister Orazio Schillaci said people needed to take care visiting Rome’s famous ruins.
“Going to the Colosseum when it is 43 degrees is not advisable, especially for an elderly person,” he told Il Messaggero newspaper on Sunday, saying people should stay indoors between 11am and 6pm.
Dehydration
Besides the Italian capital, health alerts were in place from the central city of Florence to Palermo in Sicily and Bari in the southeast of the peninsula, while the temperatures also started to build further north.
“This is not normal. I don’t remember such intense heat, especially at this time of year,” said Federico Bratti, sunbathing at Lake Garda.
In Spain, forecasters warned of the risk of forest fires and said that it would not be easy to sleep during the night, with temperatures unlikely to fall below 25 degrees Celsius across the country.
The fire on La Palma started in the early hours of Saturday in El Pinar de Puntagorda, a wooded area in the north of the island, necessitating the evacuation of people from the villages of Puntagorda and neighbouring Tijarafe.
Ten aerial units and 300 firefighters on the ground sought to bring the wildfire under control on the island, which forms part of the Canaries archipelago off the coast of western Africa and which has suffered extreme temperatures similar to those seen in a heatwave afflicting southern Europe.
“Difficult, it was a bit difficult because of the shifting wind and the heat of the last days but we are holding on,” Jose Fernandez, 46, a firefighter, told Reuters.
The heatwave will intensify from Monday, with temperatures reaching 44 degrees in the Guadalquivir valley near Seville in the south of the country, forecasters predicted.
On the Spanish island of La Palma in the Canaries, meanwhile, at least 4,000 people had to be evacuated as a forest fire burned out of control following a heatwave, authorities said.
Europe’s highest recorded temperature of 48.8 degrees Celsius, registered in Sicily two years ago, could be exceeded in the coming days, notably on the Italian island of Sardinia, meteorologists have said.
The heatwave has stretched across the Mediterranean to Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was hospitalised on Saturday suffering dizziness and apparent dehydration. He was discharged on Sunday.
“I ask you all, spend less time in the sun, drink more water, and may we all have a good new week,” he said.
– With BORJA SUAREZ, SILVIO CASTELLANOS and GRAHAM KEELEY
