Amid wildfires, Italy may have recorded the hottest day in Europe’s history

According to local meteorologists, Italy may have just experienced the highest temperature in European history.

On Wednesday, the Italian city of Syracuse recorded temperatures of 48.8 degrees Celsius. It will beat the existing European record of 48 degrees Celsius set in Athens in 1977, if validated by the World Meteorological Organization.

The reading comes amid a blazing heat wave that has been burning the Mediterranean for almost a week, affecting people in Italy, Greece, Algeria, and Turkey.

According to official data, firefighters have tackled 44,442 wildfires since June 15. From Wednesday night to Thursday morning, more than 500 fires were reported in both Sicily and Calabria.

“We are devastated by the fires. And our ecosystem — one of the richest and most precious in Europe — is at risk,”

According to Syracuse Mayor Francesco Italia. Four people have died as a result of the flames in southern Italy in the last week.

In response to the news, Giuseppe Falcomatà, the mayor of the Calabrian province of Reggio Calabria, wrote on Facebook how this natural calamity is fading away their history, identity, soul and heritage.

On August 9, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a strong warning, predicting that the Earth would warm by 1.5 degrees Celsius in the coming 20 years as a result of climate change.

As the earth warms, intense heat waves, droughts, and floods will become more regular, according to the report.

The heat wave in southern Italy was caused by an anticyclone that developed over North Africa and was named Lucifer by Italian media. As it approaches Rome, the heat wave is expected to continue travelling northward through Italy, causing brutal weather.

This week, wildfires devastated other parts of southern Europe and North Africa, damaging communities in Greece and causing thousands of people to leave.