Pensioners told to shelter from heatwave in museums and swimming pools
Italy has offered pensioners free entry to swimming pools and air-conditioned museums amid skyrocketing temperatures in Europe.
Highs of 43C have been forecast across parts of southern Spain and Portugal as much of the continent remains in the grips of an intense heatwave.
In Rome, over 70s will be given free access to swimming pools, while in Venice, over 75s will be offered guided tours of museums and public buildings free of charge as authorities seek to keep pensioners out of the sweltering heat.
Seven 'climate shelters' with air conditioning have also been established in Bologna, while ambulances have been placed on standby at tourist hotspots across southern Europe.
The initiatives were rolled out as extreme heat alerts were put in place across 21 Italian cities, including Naples, Venice, Rome, Florence and Milan.
In the regions of Sicily and Liguria, outdoor working has also been banned during the hottest parts of the day.
Mario Guarino, the vice-president of the Italian Society of Emergency Medicine, said emergency departments across Italy had reported around a 10 per cent uptick in heatstroke cases.
He said: 'It is mainly elderly people, cancer patients or homeless people, presenting with dehydration, heat stroke, fatigue.'
Hospitals, including the Ospedale dei Colli in Naples, have set up dedicated heatstroke pathways to fast track patients' access to treatments such as cold-water immersion, Mr Guarino added.
The extreme temperatures have also been felt elsewhere in Europe, with wildfires sweeping through the Greek coastal towns of Palaia Fokaia and Thymari on Thursday, destroying homes and forcing more than 1,000 people to evacuate.
Strong winds and sky-high temperatures made the fire extremely difficult to contain, with 11 tourists needing to be rescued from a beach, authorities said.
The UK Health Security Agency warns that extreme heat is linked to a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with pre-existing health conditions.
The Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (Ispra) this week also warned that four 'potentially dangerous' species could be invading the Mediterranean amid warming sea temperatures.
Ispra urged fishermen and tourists to report sightings of the venomous lionfish, silver-cheeked toadfish, dusky spinefoot and marbled spinefoot, which could be attracted to the waters off southern Italy in the extreme heat.
Scientists have warned climate change is playing a critical role in the heatwaves sweeping across Europe, especially in cities where the 'urban heat island' effect means temperatures are amplified among tightly packed buildings.
Emanuela Piervitali, a researcher at Ispra, said: 'The heat waves in the Mediterranean region have become more frequent and more intense in recent years, with peaks of 37 degrees or even more in cities, where the urban heat island effect raises the temperatures even further.
'A further increase in temperature and heat extremes is expected in the future, so we will have to get used to temperatures with peaks even higher than those we are experiencing now,' she added.
In 2003, more than 70,000 people died during an extreme heatwave in Europe, a disproportionate number of whom were over 75.
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