Summer breaks into Europe with high temperatures in the south of the continent

North African winds are raising temperatures in southern Europe, in countries such as Italy and the Balkans.

Eight Italian cities have issued heat alerts, and experts fear this could be the hottest year on record, surpassing the previous record of 48.8°C in 2021.

In Spain, thermometers are also beginning to rise, coinciding with the official beginning of a summer that the State Meteorological Agency predicts will be warmer than usual.

The heat is drastically affecting daily life in Europe, and cities across the continent are trying to adapt to rising temperatures. In London, physiology professor Lewis Halsey and his research group at the University of Roehampton measure what happens to our bodies when we suffer heat exhaustion.

«If temperatures exceed 40 °C, we will enter a risk zone. Some people will be fine and some won’t. But this is where problems start to arise. The body’s organs may begin to fail or at least begin to function less optimally. The reasons for this may be what is called protein denaturation. “Then the shape of the proteins starts to change and some of them start to separate.”

The combination of heat and humidity also has its complications. When there is already too much water in the environment due to humidity, our sweat has nowhere to go and runs off our body instead of evaporating, thus reducing the ability to reduce body heat.

Halsey explains in this sense that “the main way in which our body loses heat or stops increasing its temperature in a hot environment is through sweating,” which is a quality that places humans “among the best, in terms of secretion.” of sweat, of the animal kingdom.

Last week, Greek authorities were forced to close the Acropolis when temperatures soared above 40C, and in Turkey temperatures on the coast were 12 degrees above seasonal standards.

In Spain, the official beginning of the astronomical summer last night is accompanied this Friday by an increase in temperatures, and the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) published on Wednesday a balance of the spring, which described the temperatures in the country as a whole during the season as warm as a whole, with 0.7 °C above the average for the period between 1991 and 2020.

And, although in June the heat has not reached very oppressive levels in much of Spain so far, summer is accompanied by bad omens, with the AEMET warning that the months of July, August and September will “very likely” be warmer. than normal throughout the national territory.Euro News.

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