Millions of people faced dangerously high temperatures on Saturday across the globe, including the United States, as experts forecasted record heatwaves in Europe and Japan.
A strong heatwave expanding from California to Texas was likely to peak as the US National Weather Service issued a warning of an “extremely hot and dangerous weekend”. As per the forecast, daytime highs were to range between 10 and 20 degrees Fahrenheit above normal in the west.
In Arizona, which was one of the hardest-hit states in the US, residents endured extremely high temperatures. The temperature remained above 109F (43 degrees Celsius) in the state capital Phoenix for 16 straight days, reaching 111F on Saturday and is expected to soar to 115F on Sunday.
California’s Death Valley, which is one of the hottest places on the globe, is also predicted to hit new peaks of temperature on Sunday, with the mercury likely to increase to 130F (54C). By Saturday afternoon, the temperature had reached 124F (51C) in Death Valley.
Predictions of historic highs in Italy
Authorities predicted historic highs in the weekend for Italy as the health ministry issued a red alert for 16 cities, which included Bologna, Rome, and Florence.
The weather centre gave a warning to Italians to prepare for “the most intense heatwave of the summer and also one of the most intense of all time”.
By Monday, temperatures are likely to hit 40 degree Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in Rome and may reach 43C on Tuesday, breaking the record of 40.5C made in August 2007.
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The islands of Sardinia and Sicily can wilt under temperatures as high as 48C, warned the European Space Agency, calling it “potentially the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Europe”.
Greece’s top tourist attraction, Athens Acropolis, will remain closed on Sunday during the hottest hours for the third consecutive day.
Thousands stranded as strikes ground flights
Hundreds of flights were grounded due to strikes by airline and airport staff and thousands of travellers were left stranded in the sweltering heatwave of Europe. Around 1,000 flights, both domestic and international, were cancelled in Italy, because of the strike by ground crew, as per the airport and airline authorities.
Another 120 flights which were due to depart and arrive from Charleroi Airport in Belgium were cancelled on Saturday and Sunday, which led to the stoppage of budget carrier Ryanair. The strike in Italy left 250,000 travellers stranded in one of the biggest tourist spots.
(With inputs from agencies)
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