Europe swelters under scorching temperatures as regions issue heat alerts

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Forest fires fanned by high winds and hot, dry weather damaged some holiday homes in Turkey as a lingering heat wave covering much of Europe led authorities to raise warnings and tourists to find ways to beat the heat on Monday.

A heat dome hovered over France, Portugal and Spain to Turkey, while data from European forecasters suggested other countries were set to broil further in coming days. Heat warnings were issued for parts of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, and the U.K., with new highs expected on Wednesday before rain is forecast to bring respite to some areas later this week.

“Extreme heat is no longer a rare event – it has become the new normal,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres tweeted from Seville, Spain, where temperatures hit 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday.

Reiterating his frequent calls for action to fight climate change, Guterres added: “The planet is getting hotter & more dangerous – no country is immune.”

In Portugal – his home country – a reading of 46.6 C (115.9F) was registered in Mora, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Lisbon. Weather officials were working to confirm whether that marked a new record for June.

Portuguese authorities issued a red heat warning Monday for seven of 18 districts as temperatures were forecast to hit 43 C (109F).

The first heat wave of the year has gripped Spain since the weekend and no relief is expected until Thursday, the national weather service said Monday. The country appeared to hit a new high for June on Saturday when 46 C (114F) was recorded in the southern province of Huelva, while Sunday’s national average of 28 C (82F) set a record for a high temperature for June 29 since records were started in 1950.

In France, which was almost entirely sweltering in the heat wave on Monday, and where air conditioning remains relatively rare, local and national authorities were taking extra effort to care for homeless and elderly people and people working outside.

Some tourists were putting off plans for some rigorous outdoor activities.

“We were going to do a bike tour today, but we decided because it was going be so warm not to do the bike tour,” said Andrea Tyson, 46, who was visiting Paris from New Philadelphia, Ohio, on Sunday. Misting stations doused passers-by along the River Seine in the French capital.

France’s first significant forest fires of the season consumed 400 hectares (988 acres) of woods Sunday and Monday in the Aude region in the south. Water-dumping planes and some 300 firefighters were mobilized, the regional emergency service said. Tourists were evacuated from one campground in the area.

In Turkey, forest fires fanned by strong winds damaged some holiday homes in Izmir’s Doganbey region and forced the temporary closure of the airport in Izmir, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Authorities evacuated four villages as a precaution, the Forestry Ministry said.

Firefighters were also battling a blaze that broke out Monday near residential areas in Hatay province, near Turkey’s border with Syria, that prompted the evacuation of 1,500 people.

In Italy, the Health Ministry put 21 cities under its level three “red” alert, which indicates “emergency conditions with possible negative effects” on healthy, active people as well as at-risk old people, children and chronically ill people.

Regional governments in northwestern Liguria and southern Sicily put restrictions on outdoor work, such as construction and agricultural labor, during the peak heat hours.

The mercury was rising farther north, too.

Britain’s national weather service, the Met Office, said the Wimbledon tennis tournament was facing what could be the hottest start on record – with temperatures of just under 30 C (85F) recorded at the nearby Kew Gardens.

Tennis enthusiasts fanned themselves or sought shade from the blazing sun as the first day of matches got underway at the All England Club on Monday. Tournament rules allow players to take a 10-minute break when the heat goes above 30.1 C mid-match.

In southern Germany, temperatures of up to 35 C (95F) were expected on Monday, and they were forecast to creep higher until midweek – going as high as 39 C (102F) on Wednesday. Some German towns and regions imposed limits on how much water can be taken from rivers and lakes.

At the Berlin zoo, elephants were showered with water and bears treated with blocks of ice containing fruit.

Dr. Hans Kluge, head of the World Health Organization’s Europe office, issued a statement Monday warning that the scorching heat “silently threatens the people who need protection most: older adults, children, outdoor workers, and anyone living with chronic health conditions.”

Recalling some beat-the-heat tips, Kluge advised people to avoid high temperatures outdoors, keep homes as cool as possible by airing them at night, wear light clothing and stay in touch with those who might be most vulnerable to the hot weather.