European heatwave could last until September

European’s deadly heatwave, blamed for deaths, drying rivers and scorching wildfires, could last until September, weathermen said today.

Experts from Italy’s state-funded CNR research centre said the heatwave was among the five worst in the last 150 years and would likely last until next month.

Intense monsoon activity in Africa south of the Sahara has contributed Europe’s merciless summer.

Europe has been hit by hot air from northern Africa rather than the usual weather patterns that come in from the Atlantic, said Captain Alessandro Fuccello of the Italian air force’s meteorology office.

The toll of deaths blamed on the blistering temperatures or on fires fed by the heat rose to 38 today with the death of a 41-year-old Croatian policeman guarding the US embassy in Zagreb. He suffered heart failure likely triggered by the heat.

The temperature of the Mediterranean off the Spanish coast rose to 32 C (89.6 F), 5 C (10 F) above normal and the highest in 45 years, Spain’s National Meteorological Institute reported.

Fires raging across Italy forced officials to close a state road on the Amalfi coast in the south and evacuate some homes as a precaution in the north-western Liguria region and in Tuscany, the Civil Defence Department said.

Scattered blazes were also reported in the Lazio region.

Water-toting helicopters and planes were dousing the flames, which have already destroyed hundreds of acres of woods and Mediterranean bush.

High-temperature records have been broken in several French cities, and London.

Wildfires, fanned by hot winds, were reported in Croatia, Greece, Spain, Portugal and France, as well as Italy.

In Rome, waves of hot air rolling through the largely deserted centre made an afternoon stroll feel more like a trek through the desert.

Robert Wood, an English tourist, said he was surviving by dashing back to his hotel room for frequent showers before venturing out again on Rome’s streets.

In an odd twist, Athens, notorious for almost unbearable summer heat, was being cooled by fierce northerly gusts known locally as the “meltemia.”

Many Athenians lately have turned off their air conditioners, while some spectators at the many open air cinemas dotting the capital took to wearing long sleeves to ward off a slight evening chill.