dpa
madrid/rome
The third official heatwave of the summer has begun in southern Europe as one high-pressure system gave way to another on Monday.
As the weather system Cerebrus, named after the ferocious many-headed dog that guarded the entrance to the underworld, was replaced by Charon, the ferryman across the river to Hades, a heat alarm declared by Spain’s national weather service AEMET was in effect on Monday in 12 of the country’s 17 autonomous communities.
The result was deserted streets and crowded beaches in many places, broadcaster RTVE and other Spanish media reported. The few people who dared to go out on the streets of Madrid on Monday, which had an announced maximum temperature of 39 degrees Celsius in the shade, tried to cool off with fans, under umbrellas and using cold water bottles. The second heatwave with temperatures of almost 45 degrees had only ended in Spain on Thursday; the third is now expected to last until Wednesday. It will feel like being in an "oven,” the newspaper AS headlined.
Despite the maximum temperature of 39 degrees in the shade announced by the Air Force weather service, Italian television showed images of the sights of the capital Rome bustling with tourists. Long queues formed in front of ice cream parlours and the famous Nasoni drinking fountains, where people fill up their water bottles or cool off under the flowing water.High temperatures were also recorded in other parts of the Mediterranean country. In the large cities of Florence and Bologna, 37 to 38 degrees was measured.