Italy on red alert, Hungary turns off the lights as Europe’s heatwave takes toll

• Italy declared a red health alert across major cities due to extreme heat, offering free cooling options for the elderly and extending screenings in air-conditioned cinemas.
• Hungary and Romania reduced lighting and faced nuclear plant challenges as record-low Danube water levels threatened energy supplies and shipping on European rivers.
• Tourists in Bosnia found relief in the cool 11 deg C Vjetrenica cave, a protected environment attracting visitors escaping 40 deg C outdoor heat.

ROME/BUDAPEST – Italy took the unprecedented step of placing all its major cities on the highest level of health alert due to high temperatures on Aug 6 while Hungary turned off the lights at some of its best-known buildings to save energy as a heatwave maintained its grip on large parts of Europe.

Europe, the world’s fastest-warming continent, has been ravaged by record-breaking heat and destructive wildfires this summer, with France and Spain particularly hard hit in recent weeks.

The European Union will push its member countries to spend more on measures to reduce wildfire risk, its environment commissioner told Reuters, as experts said the economic cost of this summer’s blazes had already exceeded €15 billion (S$22.2 billion).

Pilgrims and tourists swelter in Italy

Italy is accustomed to hot summers, but the red alert issued by the Health Ministry stretches from Palermo on the southern island of Sicily to Bolzano in the mountainous north.

The warning indicated a potential health emergency with prolonged high temperatures posing a serious health risk to the entire population.

Pilgrims gathered under a blazing summer sun in the hilltop town of Assisi were sprayed with water to cool them off as Pope Leo paid a visit to mark the 800th anniversary of the death of St Francis.

“I think that when you really care about something, when you truly believe in it, even if it’s hot, you make the effort,” said Miriam Mariotti, a volunteer at the event.

Tourists in Rome used umbrellas to keep the sun off and dipped their hands in the city’s fountains.

“We try to avoid going out during the hottest part of the day and instead go out in the evening or early in the morning,” said Gianni Arlotta, visiting from the northern Italian city of Trieste.

Temperatures topped 40 deg C (104 deg F) in several areas of the northern region of Emilia-Romagna on Aug 6, one of the hottest places in Italy, reaching 42.8 deg C (109 deg F) in Bagnacavallo, near Ravenna.

Low water levels cause problems

Hungary has switched off decorative and non-essential lighting at all state institutions, including its Parliament, most of the Buda Castle and Chain Bridge, at night to save energy.

Record-low water levels on the Danube have forced the country to largely shut down its sole nuclear plant, which uses the river for cooling, stretching power supply capacity to its limits.

Romania was preparing to sink four rock-filled barges into the Danube to divert water to its only working reactor and buy a few more days of operation.

The authorities in the capital Bucharest have dimmed the intensity of street lights by a third and switched off lighting at night at landmark buildings and museums to save power.

Low water levels are causing problems for shipping on the Rhine in Germany, where many vessels can sail only part-loaded, raising freight costs.

The river is an important shipping route for commodities such as grains, minerals, coal and oil products.

Dodging the heat in a cool cave

In Bosnia, tourists have taken shelter in the constantly cool temperatures of the UNESCO-listed Vjetrenica cave to escape outside temperatures of 40 deg C (104 deg F).

Vjetrenica, which means wind cave, is located in the south of Bosnia and Herzegovina, about 25km (15 miles) north of the Adriatic town of Dubrovnik, where cruise liners arrive daily with thousands of visitors.

Numbers allowed to visit the cave are limited because of the sensitivity of the environment. Its constant 11 deg C (51.8 deg F) temperature year-round has made it a refuge for biodiversity as well as for humans. REUTERS