| Europe's been having warmer summers than 'normal', lately. Since many don't have air conditioning in homes, offices or shops, the side effects can be pretty harsh. |
| Wait til next month when the French docs and nurses go on vacation. Any granny left in her third-floor walk-up will be (literally) toast. |
Southern Europe sizzled in record-breaking temperatures yesterday with the heatwave being blamed for deaths in Hungary and Romania, power cuts in Macedonia and forest fires from Serbia to Greece.
| Up to 500 people have died in Hungary because of the heatwave |
Up to 500 people have died in Hungary because of the heatwave with deaths attributed to heatstroke, cardiovascular problems and other illnesses aggravated by high temperatures which reached a record high of 41.9C (107F) in the southern city of Kiskunhalas.| Yikes. I had 43 degrees in Seville last September, and it was bloody hot. But as a comparison, 41 degrees is a cold snap in Baghdad. |
| Greece's weather service predicted temperatures of 45C. (113C) In Bosnia and Macedonia temperatures shot up to 45C - the highest for 120 years. |
Countries across the Balkan peninsula also laboured under temperatures that hit a historic 43C in Belgrade and 44C in Bulgaria. In an urgent announcement, Greece's weather service predicted temperatures of 45C (113F) and the government urged people to restrict their movements and stay indoors. With blazes raging across much of the country for a third week, Athens' public order minister said the region was "on a war footing". In Bosnia and Macedonia, where temperatures shot up to 45C - the highest for 120 years - governments declared a state of national emergency.
Romania said at least 12 people had succumbed to the temperatures, pushing the death toll to 30 since June. Authorities said 19,000 people had been admitted to hospital, mostly with respiratory problems. In Serbia, volunteers joined firefighters and the army to help extinguish an estimated 50 blazes.
In Italy four people were burnt to death after a brush fire trapped hundreds of tourists on beaches in the Puglia region. Emergency services used patrol boats and helicopters to whisk 450 holidaymakers and residents off the beaches to which they had rushed to try to escape the flames. Two people were found dead in a car and two on a beach near the village of Peschici, where the fire swept close to houses, forcing the evacuation of a hotel and several campsites and tourist resorts.
The heatwave, which is not expected to ease until the end of the week, is the region's second this year. Record temperatures in June have already ensured this is the hottest summer in Greece for a century. |