Extreme weather hits holiday hotspots in Europe with 42C heat and ‘meteo-tsunami’ as Brits warned before booking trip
23 June 2024, 08:41 | Updated: 23 June 2024, 08:42
Extreme weather has ravaged holiday hotspots across Europe this week, with temperatures of up to 42C recorded and one region being hit by a ‘meteo-tsunami’.
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Temperatures have been rising across the continent, including in Italy, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, and Spain.
In Turkey, 11 people have died and dozens more injured following a huge wildfire, caused in part by the extreme weather.
Meanwhile in Greece, several villages close to Athens and in the southern Peloponnese region were evacuated due to the threat of wildfires.
In Menorca, dramatic footages shows the moment a huge wave hit the popular tourist town, Puerto Alcudia, amidst the meteo-tsunami, MailOnline reports.
At least five large meteo-tsunamis with oscillations above three feet occured, according to Spain’s national weather agency Aemet. It follows similar weather in Mallorca.
Explaining the phenomenon, Spanish Met Office spokesperson Miquel Gili said: "Pressure variations affect sea level.
"If the pressure increases, the sea drops; if the pressure drops, the sea rises.
"The main characteristic of these rises and falls is that they'In just 15 minutes the sea level can rise or fall very noticeably and then return to its normal state."
Steff Gaulter, a meteorologist at Sky News, explained to LBC's Matthew Wright why Europe is being ravaged by extreme heat and how it is different to the upcoming heatwave in the UK.
“North Africa is this little place where it builds the heat up more and more during the Spring and early part of summer and then if you get winds from the wrong direction, it’ll just pipe all of that really hot air to whatever part of the world the wind direction is going to,” says Ms Gaulter.
Read More: Exact date Brits to bask in 30C heat as Met Office predicts first official heatwave of summer
“This time, it was the south east of Europe. It’s not the same heat we’re getting…this was a very hot spell of weather that came up from Africa. That was across Cyprus, Greece and Turkey.”
Asked about whether the ‘British holiday’ will change as temperatures rise in Europe, Ms Gaulter went on: “The locals knew already…from now on we might start paying a bit more attention because this is in the news a bit more and there are more extremes, so it might be at an August holiday - is Greece the right place?”
Brits will bask in 30C next week as the Met Office is predicting the first official heatwave of the summer.
It follows what was a mild, wet and windy start to June, though temperatures have started to creep up in some parts of the country this week.
Temperatures in the south will peak at around 27C on Monday, rising by one degree every day until Wednesday.
London is expected to peak at around 29C on Wednesday, with the Met Office saying some weather stations could record highs of 30C.
Neil Armstrong, chief forecaster at the Met Office, said: “After a brief, less settled, interlude on Friday and Saturday, fine conditions will return by Sunday and into next week.
“For much of the UK this will be accompanied by a boost in temperatures, with many places reaching the mid-20Cs by the middle of next week.
“Some central and southern areas are likely to see temperatures approaching the values needed for heatwave conditions.”
It means the UK is set to experience its first official heatwave of the summer, which is defined as a location recording consecutively high temperatures, such as 28C.
The UK Health Security Agency has also issued a yellow “heat health alert” in England from Monday to Thursday, covering all regions except the north east.
The agency has said there is the “potential for significant impacts to be observed across the health and social care sector due to the high temperatures”.
