Caption: Another heatwave is already heading for Europe! ‘Charon’ will immediately follow ‘Cerberus’GETTY
Europeans and British holidaymakers are currently sweating out a heatwave on the continent – but there won’t be much respite in the foreseeable future.
European countries are already facing threat to life warnings due to scorching temperatures after an anticyclone system called Cerberus expanded northwards.
However as Cerberus exhausts itself, Italian forecasters now expect a second heatwave – named Charon – to replace it.
This could push temperatures back up to 43°C in Rome and as high as 47°C in Sardinia, The MailOnline reports.
Cerberus – named after Hades’ three-headed dog in Greek mythology – will see temperatures rise to above 45°C in Spain, Italy, Greece and Turkey by the end of next week.
The Italian islands of Sardinia and Sicily are set to bear the brunt of the unforgiving heat, with the BBC claiming temperatures could reach 48.8°C.
In Athens today, rescue workers had to rescue tourists from the Acropolis as temperatures climbed.
On Tuesday the death of a 44-year-old street painter in Lodi, Italy was believed to be heat related – as was the drowning of two children in Manfredonia, who were believed to be seeking relief from the heat.
Misting fans have been set up outside shops in Greece (Picture: SPYROS BAKALIS/AFP)
People are trying to cool off in the sea (Picture: Oguz Yeter/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The ground temperature in parts of southern Spain reached upwards of 60°C, with the European Space Agency warning continental records could be broken next week.
Health ministry officials have issued red alert warnings for ten major cities in Italy, including Florence and Rome.
A red alert warning means the heat is so intense that it poses a health risk to the whole population – not just vulnerable groups.
Italian politician Nicola Fratoianni said: ‘We are facing an unbearable heatwave. Dying from the heat is unthinkable – we should be taking measures to avoid tragedies like this in the hottest hours of the day.’
Water fountains, like this one in Spain, have been working overtime (Picture: Zowy Voeten/Getty Images)
A tourist at the Acropolis needed medical treatment due to heat exhaustion (Picture: ARIS MESSINIS/AFP)
Carlo Cacciamani, head of Italy’s national meteorological and climatology agency, said the unusually hot weather hitting the country is because the Cerberus anticyclone has pushed out a colder weather system from the Azores which usually influences summer weather in Italy.
‘This is happening more frequently and means we see temperatures around 40°C instead of the normal 30-31°C,’ Cacciamani told The Times.
‘The world just had the hottest week on record, according to preliminary data,’ the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said, with high temperatures having ‘potentially devastating impacts on ecosystems and the environment’.
Research published on Monday found that more than 61,000 people died due to the heat during Europe’s record-breaking summer last year.
Most people who died were over the age of 80, and about 63% of those who died due to the heat were women, according to the research published in the journal Nature Medicine.
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