Southern Europe sweltered under fierce heatwave ‘Cereberus’ on Thursday, with a warning that temperatures could hit record highs for the continent next week.
According to Reuters, weather alerts are in place across Spain’s Canary Islands, Italy, Cyprus and Greece, with the Greek authorities expecting temperatures to reach as high as 43 or 44 Celsius on Friday or Saturday.
Hundreds of people were spotted queuing to see the Acropolis of Athens in the scorching heat on Thursday.
Authorities put an ambulance on standby near the archaeological site, ready to provide first aid to tourists wilting in the heatwave.
A number of people queuing for the tourist attraction were sent to hospital as a precaution after rescue workers attended the area.
Greece’s Culture Ministry also took measures to protest tourists at the site during the heatwave, with the Hellenic Red Cross responding to a ministry request to distribute at least 20,000 bottles of water to visitors for free, as well as information on managing the extreme heat.
This heatwave comes as research released this week showed that as many as 61,000 people may have died in Europe’s sweltering heatwaves last summer.
Source: Reuters.
