Italy places all major cities on red alert as heatwave grips Europe
Italy's health ministry placed 27 cities, from Trieste in the country's northeast to Palermo in Sicily, on red alert ahead of the weekend as a blistering heatwave across much of Europe toppled temperature records and disrupted energy and transportation systems in several countries.
Italy's health ministry has placed 27 cities on red alert due to a severe heatwave gripping Europe. The cities, stretching from Trieste in the northeast to Palermo in Sicily, are under a health emergency warning due to prolonged high temperatures.
The heatwave has disrupted energy and transportation systems across several European countries. In Hungary, some well-known buildings had their lights turned off to save energy. Bulgaria has also been hit by wildfires, with the main Trakia highway closed in both directions due to a huge fire southeast of the capital Sofia.
The heatwave has had a significant economic impact, with the European Union's environment commissioner stating that the cost of this summer's wildfires has already exceeded €15 billion. Six European Union countries have had to shut down some of their power plants due to lower river levels and increased water temperatures caused by the heatwaves, and a solar eclipse on August 12 is expected to further reduce photovoltaic output, according to Le Monde English.
Brief written by urgent.news from France 24, Free Malaysia Today, Le Monde English — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
