The week of record-breaking heat: the peak on Thursday, 45 degrees in Sardinia, all the red alerts day by day

Lorenzo Giovannini, an atmospheric physicist at the University of Trento, explains that “it will be very hot almost everywhere this week; perhaps only the Alpine region will be spared. Over the weekend, cooler air is expected to arrive from the north-east, which will cause temperatures to drop first in the northern regions and then gradually spread southwards over the following days’.

On the subject of wildfires, the head of the civil protection department, Fabio Ciciliano, has reassured the public: “It is true that it has been hotter, but it is not true that there have been more fires. It goes without saying that the ones receiving the most attention, such as the fires currently affecting Piedmont, make big headlines because they are large, last a long time and occur in a region that is not normally accustomed to them’, whilst emphasising, however, that at present the number of recorded fires is no higher than in previous years.

However, according to an analysis by Coldiretti based on data from Effis – the European system that monitors large-scale wildfires – the record-breaking heat and drought are increasing the risk of fires, and over the past month almost 9,000 hectares of woodland and land have gone up in flames. The study suggests that extreme temperatures are facilitating the spread of the flames, exacerbating the damage already caused by the drought in the Italian countryside.

And, according to Coldiretti’s estimates, every hectare destroyed by fire incurs a cost of over 10,000 euros for fire-fighting operations, site clearance and the restoration of the affected areas. On top of the direct damage, there is also the impact on the local economy, tourism and biodiversity.

The situation remains critical across much of the continent. According to a study by Imperial College London, the Met Office and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, at least 2,700 people may have lost their lives in England and Wales due to heat-related causes during the heatwaves in May and June.

In Germany, on the other hand, there was a surge in drowning incidents in June alone: 99 people died in the water, the highest figure recorded in a month of June for over 20 years.

In France , the fire alert remains at its highest level. On Sunday afternoon, a fire broke out in the Fontainebleau forest, some 60 km from Paris, which was described as “of exceptional magnitude” by the area’s deputy prefect, Yannis Bouzar.