Europe swelters in heatwave ‘Cerberus’ – 40C and it’ll get even hotter

Cerberus, the heatwave named after the three-headed hound of hell, shows no sign of abating with temperatures rising above 40C in parts of Italy, Spain and Greece.

Tourists at the Colosseum in Rome shelter from the sun using umbrellas as temperatures rise above 40C. Picture: Alamy/The Times

The Italians have named it Cerberus, after the three-headed hound of hell; the Greeks use Cleon, after an Athenian general from the Peloponnesian War; in Spain it is Yago, a step back in the alphabet from last year’s Zoe.

Almost everyone calls it unbearable.

The heatwave sweeping southern Europe showed no sign of abating over the weekend as temperatures exceeded 40C in parts of Italy, Spain and Greece. Further rises are expected in the coming days as Cerberus is replaced by Charon, a potentially hotter subtropical cyclone that will bring scorching days and torrid nights.

Volunteers give a bath to dogs in a swimming pool at an animal shelter in Malaga, southern Spain. Picture: EPA/The Times

There are predictions the European heat record of 48.8C, set near Syracuse in Sicily on August 11, 2021, will be broken this week. This is most likely to happen either elsewhere in Sicily or in Sardinia, according to the European Space Agency.

The UK Foreign Office warned that extreme temperatures were affecting many areas of Italy, and the authorities issued red alerts – indicating risks even for healthy people – for the coming days in 16 cities including Rome, Florence and Bologna.

For travellers, the misery was compounded yesterday (Saturday) by an eight-hour strike by air traffic control and handling staff at airports across Italy that forced the cancellation of more than 100 flights.

Serena Giacomin, president of the Italian Climate Network, said. “The temperatures that we will have to endure are temperatures that are off the scale from the point of view of climate.”

In Athens, where it was 41C, the Acropolis was closed between noon and 5.30pm for the second day running. Volunteers handed out bottles of water there and at other tourist sites.

A man cools off in the sea at Mondello beach in Palermo, Italy. Picture: Reuters/The Times

A dog quenches its thirst at a fountain during the heatwave in Turin, Italy. Picture: EPA/The Times

A field at an onshore wind farm caught fire near the town of Zörbig, eastern Germany. Picture: AP/The Times

There were similar temperatures elsewhere in the country, though strong winds in the Aegean, due to reach force 7 this week, gave some relief.

Spain has also been unusually hot, with expected highs of at least 42C in the southern half of the country and in the Ebro Valley in the country’s northeast.

There have also been unexpected hot spots: the meteorological office in the Czech Republic warned that weekend temperatures could go above 38C. Switzerland, Poland and Germany have also been unusually warm.

There is concern that the hot, dry weather will cause a repeat of last summer’s forest fires. On Saturday, the Spanish authorities pre-emptively evacuated 500 people after a wildfire broke out on the Canary Island of La Palma.

The Times