Nineteen of Italy's 27 major cities faced the highest-level heat alert on Friday, with Florence recording temperatures up to 39 degrees Celsius as the country endures its fourth heat wave of the summer. The Health Ministry predicted that 23 cities will reach red-alert status by Sunday, with Terni expected to hit 41 degrees. The Po River at Cremona has fallen below its 2022 record low, and irrigation withdrawals have been slashed across Veneto.
The crisis has deepened across the continent. The World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control calculated 10,000 excess deaths in Europe in the last week of June alone. Wildfires in Spain and France have forced more than 300,000 evacuations, while low Danube water levels have shut down the Paks nuclear plant in Hungary and a facility at Cernavoda, Romania.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that El Niño is adding fuel to an already burning planet, as sea-surface warming exceeds three and a half degrees. Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri accused the government of leaving municipalities to cope alone.