Weather maps hit 43C as killer heatwave roasts Europe from Portugal to Turkey
Europe is struggling to grapple with heatwaves as they become more frequent due to climate change.
New weather maps are glowing red as a scorching heatwave sweeps Europe bringing temperatures in the 40Cs.
The new maps reveal temperatures of up to 41C for some areas of Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Algeria for the period July 2 to July 4.
The coming days are due to bring extreme heat to areas already suffering. Greece has recently had six tourist deaths due to record-breaking temperatures.
Europe is struggling to grapple with heatwaves as they become more frequent due to climate change, with Greece being forced to close the Acropolis during the hottest hours of the day after a tourist fainted while waiting to buy a ticket.
Elsewhere in the north of Spain and south of France, temperatures are sitting in the milder mid-20Cs. Toulouse, for example, has an average of 24C for the period, and Bilbao with 23C.
According to a recent report from climate scientists, Europe is the fastest-warming continent and its temperatures are rising at roughly twice the global average.
Two top climate monitoring organisations warned of the consequences for human health, glacier melt, and economic activity.
The UN's World Meteorological Organization and the European Union’s climate agency, Copernicus, said in a joint report that Europe has the opportunity to develop targeted strategies to speed up the transition to renewable resources like wind, solar, and hydroelectric power in response to the effects of climate change.
The continent generated 43 percent of its electricity from renewable resources last year, up from 36 percent the year before. More energy in Europe was generated from renewables than from fossil fuels for the second year running.
The latest five-year averages show that temperatures in Europe are now running 2.3C above pre-industrial levels, compared to 1.3C higher globally, the report says — just shy of the targets under the 2015 Paris Climate Accord to limit global warming to 1.5C.
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The extreme heat has prompted warnings from officials to tourists flocking to the region on their summer holidays.
Stefanos Sidiropoulos, who runs a Greek travel agency, said tourists should be wary of "difficult" conditions they will need to "adapt to".
He told CNN: "People that are coming from north Europe, or from Canada, places with colder temperatures, it’s more difficult for them. They need time to adapt to these conditions."
