Deadly Heatwave Sweeps Across Southern Europe

A heatwave is sweeping across parts of southern Europe and north-west Africa, with potential record-breaking temperatures in the coming days.

Temperatures are expected to surpass 104 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of Spain, France, Greece, Croatia and Turkey.

In Italy, temperatures could reach as high as 119.8F.

A red alert warning has been issued for 10 cities, including Rome, Bologna and Florence.

On Tuesday, a man in his forties died after collapsing in northern Italy.

Italian media reported that the 44-year-old worker was painting zebra crossing lines in the town of Lodi, near Milan, before he collapsed from the heat. He was taken to hospital where he later died.

People have been advised to drink at least two litres of water a day and to avoid coffee and alcohol, which are dehydrating.

Several visitors to the country have already collapsed from heatstroke, including a British man outside the Colosseum in Rome.

The Cerberus heatwave – named by the Italian Meteorological Society after the three-headed monster that features in Dante’s Inferno – is expected to bring extreme conditions in the next few days.

Spain has been sweltering for days in temperatures of up to 113F and overnight temperatures in much of the country did not drop below 77F.

Parts of Majorca on Wednesday were as high as 98F.

The Andalusian regional government has started a telephone assistance service for people affected by the heat and has received 54,000 calls since it opened in early June.

On the Spanish island of Majorca, the emergency health hotline has had to deal with more than one case of heatstroke every day since May.

A satellite image recorded by the EU’s Copernicus Sentinel mission revealed that the land temperature in the Extremadura region had hit 60C 140F on Tuesday