Five people have died in Italy as 17 cities were placed under the highest-level heat alert for Thursday as the country roasts in the grip of a killer heatwave
Five people have died in Italy as the country roasts in the grip of killer heat has faced extreme temperatures during the ongoing heatwave.
Authorities placed 17 cities under the highest-level heat alert for Thursday, state news agency ANSA reported, amid warnings the heatwave could intensify further.
Two farmers were among the fatalities as well as a homeless person in Naples and a man who died in a cemetery in front of his parents’ grave, a worker also died after falling ill while working on a water system in the Padua area.
A 61-year-old man died yesterday afternoon in the province of Piacenza. He had been working in a vineyard in a small hamlet in the Nure Valley in the scorching heat. His brother found him lying lifeless among the vine rows at around 2pm. Emergency services arrived on the scene quickly but were unable to save him. Further investigations are underway by the Carabinieri.
When Stefano Santagostino, 56, fell ill yesterday afternoon at a cemetery in the town of Garlasco near Milan his temperature was 37C. Stefano collapsed while standing at his parents’ grave.
Emergency services rushed to the scene but despite their best efforts the man was pronounced dead. Further investigations will determine the extent to which the heat caused the fatal illness, local media reported.
Temperatures of 40C and 41C are forecast for Italy’s Florence and Po Valley regions recorded next Saturday and Monday, respectively, expected to be the highest temperatures for the heatwave.
Italy’s health ministry placed 17 cities – including Florence, Milan, Rome, Turin and Verona – on its highest heat alert, and warned the heatwave could intensify further, peaking between Sunday and Monday.
Europe is currently experiencing one of the most intense heat waves in recent memory, with record-breaking temperatures, maximum alerts, and significant impacts in several countries.
At least 48 people have died in France from drowning since the onset of the conditions while trying to cool off, authorities said, and two young children were killed by heat in a car while another youngster died in a vehicle outside his family home yesterday.
The heatwave has been linked to the deaths of more than 200 people across Spain between Monday and Wednesday this week.
Data from the Daily Mortality Monitoring System (MoMo) of the Carlos III Health Institute in Madrid shows that 213 people died across Spain between Monday and Wednesday.
In the UK the Met Office has confirmed that Wednesday saw the hottest June day on record after temperatures soared to 36.1C (97F) in Gosport, Hampshire smashing a record from 1976.
However the record may well be smashed today as forecasts predict temperatures of up to 38C in parts of the UK today.
