Sicily reached a difficult-to-imagine 48.8 degrees Celsius (119.85 Fahrenheit) Wednesday, in what may be a record high temperature for all of Europe.
The temperature reading still has to be verified by the World Meteorological Organisation, and if confirmed, would break the previous European record of 48C (118.4F) set in Athens in 1977, according to The Guardian.
The temperature was measured at a monitoring station in Syracuse, Sicily, and confirmed soon after by the island’s meteorological authorities.
Trevor Mitchell, a meteorologist from MetDesk, said: “The Società Meteorologica Italiana says that the temperature report of 48.8C is genuine. However, with potential records such as these, there is typically a process of verification before they can be declared officially.”
“Sicily has been experiencing a heatwave in the last few days. The foehn effect [a change from wet, cold conditions on one side of a mountain to warmer, drier conditions on the other] in the lee of the mountains to the west of Syracuse is likely to have assisted in generating the 48.8C observed there today.”
Spain and Portugal bracing for a dangerous heatwave
A monstrous heatwave that has grilled southeastern Europe, stretching across the Mediterranean to Tunisia and Algeria, has been fed by hot air from North Africa.
In its wake, hundreds of wildfires have blazed across the region for over a week, killing dozens of people in Italy, Turkey, and Algeria. Scott Duncan, a Scottish meteorologist, said more heat records were inevitable.
“A dangerous heatwave spanning much of North Africa and into southern Europe is unfolding right now. The focus of heat will shift west and north slightly in the coming days,” he tweeted.
This means that as the system begins pushing west toward the Iberian peninsula, Spain and Portugal will be sitting right in its path, reports NPR.org.
All in all, it has been a tough year for people living in the Northern Hemisphere. Temperature records have been smashed in Canada, the western parts of the US, Finland, Estonia, Turkey, and Moscow. Even North Africa is dealing with extreme temperatures.
Unprecedented floods have swept through Germany and parts of China. Record wildfires are blazing in the Siberian taiga, Greece, Italy, the U.S., and Canada.
