Europe bakes Summer's first heatwave as continent warms

AFP | Marseille

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Southern Europeans braced yesterday for their first heatwave of the northern hemisphere summer, as climate change pushes thermometers on the world's fastest-warming continent increasingly into the red.

Temperatures are set to rise to 37 degrees Celsius (99 Fahrenheit) in Rome, driving the Eternal City's many tourists and pilgrims towards the Italian capital's 2,500 public fountains for refreshment.

With residents of the southern French port city of Marseille expected to have to cope with temperatures flirting with 40C (104F), the city's authorities ordered public swimming pools be free of charge to help residents beat the Mediterranean heat.

Two-thirds of Portugal will be on high alert on Sunday for extreme heat and forest fires, with 42C (108F) expected in the capital Lisbon, while visitors to -- and protesters against -- Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos's Friday wedding in Venice likewise sweltered under the summer sun.

"There is no wind, a lot of humidity, we are sweating, and I'm suffocating at night," Alejandra Echeverria, a 40-year-old Mexican tourist to Venice, told AFP on Saturday.

"I try not to think about it, but I drink a lot of water and never stay still, because that's when you get sunstroke," Sriane Mina, an Italian student, told AFP the day before.

Scientists have long warned that humanity's burning of fossil fuels is heating up the world with disastrous consequences for the environment, with Europe's ever-hotter and increasingly common blistering summer heatwaves a direct result of that warming.

The heatwave is forecast to become even more intense on Sunday.

Spain, which has in past years seen a series of deadly summer blazes, is expecting peak temperatures in excess of 40C (104F) across most of the country.

Outdoor work ban

According to the Spanish meteorological agency, temperatures may even register 42C (108F) in some areas, including the Guadalquivir, Guadiana, and Tagus regions.

The past three years have been the hottest in Spain's history.

With peaks of 39C (102F) expected in Palermo, Sicily has ordered a ban on outdoor work in the hottest hours of the day, as has the Liguria region in northern Italy.

The country's trade unions are campaigning to extend the measure to other parts of the country. In Nice, where the mercury hit 33 degrees Celcius at midday, residents and tourists sought refuge in misted parks and museums.

In Seville, where forecasts suggested temperatures could reach up to 43 degrees Celcius, locals and tourists used handheld fans and caps to shield themselves from heat.

According to Copernicus and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Europe has been warming at roughly twicethe global average since the 1980s. As a result of the planet's warming, extreme weather events including hurricanes, droughts,floods and heatwaves like thisweekend's have become morefrequent and intense, scientistswarn.