Cerberus heatwave: Hot weather sweeps across southern Europe
A heatwave is sweeping across parts of southern Europe, with potential record-breaking temperatures in the coming days, BBC reports.
Temperatures are expected to surpass 40C (104F) in parts of Spain, France, Greece, Croatia and Turkey.
In Italy, temperatures could reach as high as 48.8C (119.8F). A red alert warning has been issued for 10 cities, including Rome, Bologna and Florence.
Several visitors to the country have collapsed from heatstroke, including a British man outside the Colosseum in Rome.
The Cerberus heatwave - named by the Italian Meteorological Society after the three-headed monster that features in Dante's Inferno - is expected to bring more extreme conditions in the next few days.
Spain has been sweltering for days in temperatures of up to 45C (113F) and overnight temperatures in much of the country did not drop below 25C (77F). The Andalusian regional government has started a telephone assistance service for people affected by the heat which has received 54,000 calls since it opened in early June.
A satellite image recorded by the EU's Copernicus Sentinel mission revealed that the land surface temperature in the Extremadura region had hit 60C (140F) on Tuesday. The UK's national weather service, the Met Office, says temperatures will peak on Friday. BBC Weather says large swathes of southern Europe could see temperatures in the low to mid 40s - and possibly higher.
But as Cerberus dies out, Italian weather forecasters are warning that the next heatwave - dubbed Charon after the ferryman who delivered souls into the underworld in Greek mythology - will push temperatures back up towards 43C (109F) in Rome and a possible 47C (116F) on the island of Sardinia.
