Map shows path of ‘hellish’ wildfires as 44°C heatwave sweeps Europe

Temperatures have reached 45°C in some parts of Europe (Picture: Climatebook)

Wildfires are tearing through southern Europe as sizzling temperatures of up to 44°C spark ‘danger to life’ weather alerts.

Apocalyptic weather – originating from an air bubble from the Sahara desert – has hit Europe, with multiple heat-related deaths reported in Italy.

A prolonged heatwave is forecast across the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions until at least the end of this week.

Temperatures are expected to reach as high as 42-44°C – 10 degrees hotter than the average for the mid-July period.

This is everything you need to know about the Europe’s extreme weather if you are about to head on holiday.

Greece

Greece is experiencing its most severe wildfire risk in two decades, with some reservoirs hitting their lowest levels in 10 years.

In the past 24 hours, 47 forest and rural fires have blazed across Greece, with 15 still ongoing.

Kea, the westernmost Greek island of the Cyclades, has been ravaged by fires.

Footage shows helicopters collecting water from the Aegean Sea and dropping it on patches of dry vegetation on fire.

A volunteer stands on a roof as flames rise from a wildfire burning in Stamata, near Athens, Greece (Picture: REUTERS)

Multiple homes have been evacuated in the Lygia area, in the Ionian islands, as the flames continued to spread overnight.

Several blazes raged on Thursday in Greece’s southern Corinth area and again on the eastern Aegean Sea island of Lesbos.

Warnings were issued for the region surrounding Athens, with a similar warning for the northeast of the country on Friday.

Night-time temperatures in the capital are forecast at or above 30C due to the urban heat island (UHI) effect, which makes cities significantly warmer than surrounding rural area – especially at night.

Authorities have said that the country faces its highest wildfire risk in two decades this summer.

Turkey

In Turkey, the charred bodies of three people – a child, a woman and a man – were found in a burnt woodland in the western province of İzmir’s Çeşme district.

The flames rapidly spread due to strong winds and multiple homes were evacuated.

A map showing the location of fires in the Balkans (Picture: Metro.co.uk)

North Macedonia

Further west, North Macedonia declared a state of crisis for 30 days late on Sunday and asked neighbouring Serbia for firefighting helicopters to help fight forest fires.

Serbian interior minister Ivica Dacic confirmed he had received a telephone request for help from North Macedonia.

‘I think we have enough capacity to help two countries,’ Dacic said in a statement on Monday.

Firefighters are battling 17 wildfires in mountainous regions in central and southern parts of the country.

More than 1,000 hectares of woodland have been burning, with some still active.

Prime minister Hristijan Mickoski wrote on Facebook: ‘Help will soon arrive from Slovenia, Turkey, Serbia and Montenegro.’

Bosnia’s Serb Republic also asked Serbia for a firefighting helicopter to contain a major fire near Gacko in the south of the country, near neighboring Montenegro.

Antonela Spičanović, who lives in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica, told AP on Saturday: ‘It was impossible to breathe yesterday.’

Seven wildfires swept across North Macedonia over the weekend (Picture: AFP)

Bulgaria

In Bulgaria, authorities are waiting for helicopters from Romania to help battle at least six fires near the city of Stara Zagora.

A state of emergency has been declared in the province in south-central Bulgaria.

A boy, aged 19, suffered serious burns to 60% of his body while trying to save his bee farm in the village of Shtit.

A wildfire also broke out in the region of Burgas, a popular holiday destination for British tourists.

Thousands of acres have burned over the weekend, mostly affecting mountainous villages.

Meteorologists said temperatures were even higher than officially reported in big cities where concrete radiates heat above the ground.

A firefighting team efforts to extinguish flames that broke out on the Turkish border with Bulgaria (Picture: Getty)

Italy

Elsewhere on the continent, Italy is expected to face blistering temperatures seen reaching 45°C.

At least four people have died with suspected heatstroke in Bari, Puglia and Rome, amid severe humidity.

Cities including the Italian capital and popular tourist destinations such as Naples and Florence are expected to be impacted.

The following 12 cities are under red alerts until Wednesday: Ancona, Bologna, Campobasso, Florence, Frosinone, Latina, Perugia, Pescara, Rieti, Rome, Trieste and Viterbo.

The Italian ministry of health has urged people to remain inside and stay hydrated.

France, Spain, Poland and Ukraine have also been impacted by the heat.

In the Czech Republic capital of Prague, the city zoo delivered ten tons of ice to provide relief to animals after temperatures reached 34C last week.

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