2023-07-22 08:30:53
Greece braces for hottest July weekend in 50 years
Due to the heat, the Acropolis is also largely closed
© AFP
The people of Greece braced themselves for what may be the hottest July weekend in 50 years on Saturday. Authorities urged residents and tourists not to go outdoors unnecessarily because of the sweltering heat. All archaeological sites, including the Acropolis in Athens, should remain closed during the hottest hours. The risk of forest fires is therefore likely to continue to rise.
The meteorologists predicted 45 degrees in the region around Thessaloniki and 44 degrees in Athens for the weekend. This puts the Greek capital only just below its previous heat record of 44.8 degrees from June 2007. Overall, Athens still has six to seven days with temperatures above 40 degrees ahead of it, meteorologist Panagiotis Giannopoulos told ERT television.
His colleague Yannis Kallianos spoke of an almost “endless and powerful heat wave”. He warned that the high temperatures combined with strong northerly winds are fueling the risk of wildfires. According to the fire brigade, it was still fighting 79 fires across the country on Friday. Fire department spokesman Vassilios Vathrakoyannis said that they were also on the highest alert at the weekend.
Greece is just one of many countries grappling with a prolonged period of extreme heat around the globe. On the other side of the Atlantic, the US weather service warned of temperatures of 41 degrees and more for this weekend. Around 80 million US citizens are likely to be affected.
In Phoenix, Arizona, which is currently suffering the longest heat wave since weather records began, temperatures are likely to rise to over 46 degrees. Due to the extreme heat, a propane gas storage facility caught fire there on Thursday; several tanks then exploded and led to an inferno of flames.
In Death Valley, California, 500 kilometers away, the hottest place on earth, tourists have been taking selfies with the temperature display in front of the visitor center for days, which shows ever more extreme numbers. Many hope that the global heat record from July 2013 of 56.7 degrees Celsius will be broken – which, according to many experts, is due to an incorrect measurement.
Disaster tourism in Death Valley poses risks to life and limb: just a few days ago, a 71-year-old man from Los Angeles collapsed in front of the toilet on a hiking trail in the national park and died. Hours earlier, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times interviewed and photographed him looking for shade under a metal sign. According to the national park administration, he is probably the second heat death in Death Valley this year.
AFP
#Subjects
1690022224
#Greece #braces #hottest #July #weekend #years