Europe grapples with record heat as Italy issues nationwide red alert
Italy placed all 27 monitored cities on its highest heat warning as a heat wave pushed temperatures above 40 °C across the continent, prompting health advisories, energy curtailments and wildfire alerts.
Italy’s health ministry placed every city in its national heat-surveillance network on a red alert on Thursday, the first time the entire system has reached the highest warning level this year. The alert covers locations from Trieste to Palermo and advises residents and tourists to stay indoors during peak heat, avoid direct sunlight and stay hydrated as temperatures approach 40 °C (104 °F).
The heat wave has also forced adjustments at major tourist sites; the ministries of tourism and culture extended evening opening hours at landmarks such as the Colosseum and the Pantheon, installed cooling mist fans at the Colosseum entrances and added medical stations.
Austria recorded its highest temperature ever, 41.2 °C (106.2 °F), in Bad Deutsch-Altenburg, while drought has left rainfall 27 % below the long-term average and some eastern regions receiving only half of normal precipitation.
In Hungary, low water levels in the Danube forced the country’s sole nuclear plant to cut output to about 10 % of normal capacity. The government introduced emergency electricity-saving measures, asking industrial users and households to reduce consumption during peak hours, halting freight trains and dimming decorative lighting on Budapest landmarks. Several major companies announced plans to curb electricity use, and parliamentary sessions were cancelled.
Germany’s transport minister warned that falling Rhine water levels threaten inland shipping and industrial logistics, while environmental groups called for measures to make rivers more resilient to drought.
Southeastern France remains on a high wildfire alert after a blaze in the Var region burned more than 60 sq km; authorities said strong winds and dry conditions keep the area at very high risk of further fires.
The Balkans also face extreme heat and wildfires. In Serbia, firefighters are battling multiple blazes in pine forests near Belgrade and Kraljevo, and in Croatia tourists in Dubrovnik are seeking shade as temperatures climb along the Adriatic coast.