Europe bakes in summer's first heatwave as continent warms

MARSEILLE, France: Southern Europeans braced Saturday for the 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 Catholic pilgrims to the Vatican alike 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), authorities in the country’s second-largest city ordered public swimming pools to be made 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.

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 ravaging the Iberian peninsula, 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 Naples and 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, on the French Riviera, nearly 250 portable fans have been distributed to schools over the past two weeks to help cope with the heat.

The heatwave comes hot on the heels of a series of tumbling records for extreme heat, including Europe’s hottest March ever, according to the EU’s Copernicus climate monitor.

As a result of the planet’s warming, extreme weather events including hurricanes, droughts, floods and heatwaves like this weekend’s have become more frequent and intense, scientists warn.

By some estimates 2024, the hottest year in recorded history so far, saw worldwide disasters that cost more than $300 billion.