Brits told ‘it’s hell outside’ in Europe as warnings issued in Italian hotspots

British tourists have been warned it’s “it’s hell outside” as the heatwave in parts of central and southern Europe has sent temperatures soaring towards 40C. Offical warnings have been issued to be cautious, drive carefully, drink plenty of water and avoid going outside during the hottest hours of the day.

Italian authorities have declared a red weather alert in seven cities on Thursday, in the central parts of the country as well as the capital Rome and Tieste in the northeast. Rome’s municipal authorities issued a digital app to help people find public drinking foundations as temperatures reached 38C on Thursday, said AP News (Belgrade). 

An American visitor to Rome told ABC News that he skipped part of a planned tour and stayed in a van instead: “It is really affecting me,” he said.

“I spend my days in the apartment, under the air conditioning,” said Đorđe Stanišić, an electrical engineer also from Podgorica. “It’s hell outside.”

Authorities have also warned that the heat conditions are being aggravated by humidity and could affect everyone, not just those with health conditions.

Similar warnings have been issued in neighbouring Croatia. Its main tourist hotspot, Dubrovnik, in the southern Adriatic Sea region, recorded 28C at dawn. An “Excessive Heat Warning” was issued on Wednesday by the Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service, with temperatures expected to hit 36C in Dubrovnik on Monday July 15.

The warning was also issued for the Zagreb, Karlovac and Split regions. In Spain, the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) issued several meteorological warnings for areas including Zaragoza, Valencia and Campiña to last until Friday July 12, with maximum temperatures of 40C. 

The Foreign Office has also provided advice for travellers, suggesting they keep up to date with AEMET and European Meteorological Services on severe weather warnings.

They also recommended resources including the NHS guidance on coping with hot weather and recommendations from the Spanish Ministry of Health.

In Greece, the HEAT-ALARM biometeorological system issued regional warnings for “unseasonably high temperatures” predicted to persist through Thursday and Friday, with “high risk areas” in the island coast and coastal Western Greece, Eastern Aegean and Northern and Central mainland. Moderate risk areas also include Crete, the Cyclades and Eastern Attica. 

Forest fires were also reported this week in Albania, Bosnia and Italy, as well as blazes raging in Greece’s southern Corinth area and on the eastern Aegean Sea island of Lesbos.

Greek authorities have said that the country faces its highest wildfire risk in two decades this summer, following a mild and largely rainless winter and spring which have left vegetation dry and at risk of catching fire easily. 

In the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica, where temperatures hit 39C on Wednesday, resident Antonela Spičanović said “It was impossible to breathe yesterday,” as many residents stayed inside or headed for the Adriatic coast.