A silent killer has come to the popular resorts of the Mediterranean – this is the statement made by the Red Cross Cross, commenting on the sharp onset of hot weather already in April. Experts are sounding the alarm – vulnerable groups, including older tourists traveling on purpose outside the hot season, are at risk.
The “heat wave” covered first of all Spain and Portugal – according to the experts of the Red Cross, the thermometer in Andalusia reached 40 ° C last week at some point. Thus, the temperature of 38.8 ° C was recorded at the Cordoba airport in southern Spain . This is higher than the previous April record set in 2017. That was 34.0°C.
Tourists who miss the warmth may be glad of the heat – but you should not be inattentive to it. Andreas von Weissenberg, Head of Health, Disasters, Crises and Climate, warned about this: “We have said many times, heat is a silent killer. Surges in excess mortality are evident during heatwaves,” he said. At the same time, according to him, vulnerable groups of people, including elderly tourists, need a “special warning”. “The heat at the beginning of the season is especially dangerous because people have not yet acclimatized to high temperatures and may not have been ready for them,” experts add.
Recall that in Spain the first victims of the heat have already been recorded – while we are not talking about human ones, fortunately. In the Spanish Seville, while transporting tourists in a carriage, one horse died and another fell due to the wild heat of + 36 ° C. An investigation into animal cruelty has been launched. Read the details at this link.
By the way, the “heat wave” to Europe was brought by winds from Africa. They also “hurt” the resorts located closer – “anomalous heat” was noted in the resorts of Egypt, as well as in most cities, where the temperature approaches +35 degrees. For example, hot weather is predicted in Luxor and Abu Simbel, +34 degrees are expected on the first day, and +33 on the second. It's hot in Cairo too, though “only” +28. In Hurghada and Marsa Alam, tourists expect +31 degrees, almost the same weather in Sharm el-Sheikh – +30. For this time, these are quite high temperatures, local meteorologists say. Read more here.
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