At a construction site outside Houston, Texas, a 28-year-old worker who gave his name only as Juan helped complete a wall in the blazing heat.
“Just when I take a drink of water, I get dizzy, I want to vomit because of the heat,” he told AFP.
The Las Vegas weather service warned that assuming high temperatures naturally come with the area’s desert climate was “a DANGEROUS mindset! This heatwave is NOT typical desert heat”.
Southern California is fighting numerous wildfires, including one in Riverside County that has burned more than 3,000 hectares and prompted evacuation orders.
Further north, the Canadian government reported that wildfires had burned a record-breaking 10 million hectares this year, with more damage expected as the summer drags on.
HISTORIC HIGHS FORECAST
In Europe, Italy faces weekend predictions of historic highs with the health ministry issuing a red alert for 16 cities including Rome, Bologna and Florence.
The weather centre warned Italians to prepare for “the most intense heatwave of the summer and also one of the most intense of all time”.
The thermometer is likely to hit 40 degrees Celsius in Rome by Monday and 43 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, smashing the record of 40.5 degrees Celsius set in August 2007.
The islands of Sicily and Sardinia could wilt under temperatures as high as 48 degrees Celsius, the European Space Agency warned – “potentially the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Europe”.
The Acropolis in Athens, one of Greece’s top tourist attractions, will close during the hottest hours on Sunday, for the third day running.
Source: CNA
