As Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Poland face a major heatwave, temperatures are expected to climb to 48°C on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia on Wednesday – the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Europe.
An anti-cyclone (a high-pressure area) named Cerberus will cause temperatures to rise above 40°C across much of Italy on Wednesday, with predictions of 47°C-48°C for Sicily and Sardinia. Italy is currently experiencing its first major heatwave this year, after a spring and early summer full of storms and floods.
"We know that there will be temperatures above 40°C or 45°C," the president of the Italian Meteorological Society, Luca Mercalli, told The Guardian. "We could get close to the record. Either way, the levels will be very high."
The record for the highest temperature in European history was broken on 11 August 2021, when a temperature of 48.8°C was recorded in Foridia, an Italian town in the Sicilian province of Syracuse. Now, that record may be broken again in the coming days.
Warmest week, hottest month
The intense heat is expected to persist for about two weeks in the centre and the south of Italy, while it should decrease (slightly) in the north.
In the meantime, Spain is facing its second heatwave of the summer with temperatures up to 44°C in some parts of Andalusia earlier this week, causing the Spanish weather service to declare 'code red' for the region.
Madrid also recorded temperatures of 39°C, while 35°C was measured on the island of Mallorca. The Red Cross has urged locals and tourists to exercise extreme caution and pay attention to those most vulnerable to the high temperatures, such as children and elderly people.
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Worldwide, last week (3 to 9 July) was the warmest week on record, after the entire month of June has also become the hottest on record so far. According to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the record for the warmest day on record was broken four times last week.
On Monday, more than 17°C was recorded for the first time. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the global mercury rose to 17.2°C. On Thursday and Friday, the temperature climbed a bit higher to 17.23°C and 17.24°C degrees respectively.
The heat coincides with the onset of El Niño, the natural phenomenon that warms the Pacific Ocean, said the WMO. It is expected that the global temperature will rise further and that more weather records will be broken.
