There is no escaping the extreme heat in many places this week. “It runs west to east across the Mediterranean,” says Van den Born of Weer.nl. “Today it was code red in northeastern Spain, Mallorca, southern Italy, Sicily and Sardinia, up to Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. And later this week, Greece and Turkey will join.”
In many places temperatures exceed 40 degrees. Yesterday in Spain it was up to 45 degrees. “The worst part is that it barely gets cold at night,” says the meteorologist. ‘This can be dangerous for people with frail health. They can still cool down too little. This can lead to heart problems and dehydration. It is a difficult period for the people of those regions.’
“The worst part is that it barely gets cold at night. This can be dangerous for people with fragile health. They can still cool off too little.’
Emergency plan in effect
An emergency plan is in place in Italy, says Van den Born. “This says you should be indoors between 11 and 6. This means that many of the tourist attractions are closed at that time. The advice is simply to stay at home for most of the day.’
Remarkable: the sea water is also warming up. “The Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Italy has already warmed to over 30 degrees. And the water off the coast of Florida is now 36 degrees. This is the temperature at which you would take a bath. And you won’t last long either.”