2017 Southern Europe heat wave (Wikipedia wiped it).

For other uses, see 2017 heat wave (disambiguation).

Contents
[hide]
 * 1Overview
 * 2The event
 * 2.1Heath issues
 * 2.2Animal welfare
 * 2.3Disruption
 * 2.4Forest fires
 * 2.5Recorded temperatures
 * 2.6Victim's accounts
 * 3See also
 * 4References

Overview[edit]
The heat wave dubbed Lucifer[5]  [6] [7]  (the Italian public had dubbed the hot spell "Lucifero"[1] .) or Jolanda[8] (by the Deutscher Wetterdienst) was an extreme heat wave that affected Southern Europe in 2017. It started at the end of July,[8]  and lasted till the fifth of August,[9]  before conditions gradually began to cool down again. Some countries that were affected included Poland[3] , Switzerland[3] , Italy[2] [3] , France[3] , Croatia[3] , Hungary[2] [3] , Romania[2] <sup id="cite_ref-thesun.co.uk_3-7">[3] , Portugal<sup id="cite_ref-thesun.co.uk_3-8">[3] , Spain<sup id="cite_ref-bostonglobe.com_2-5">[2] <sup id="cite_ref-thesun.co.uk_3-9">[3] , Montenegro<sup id="cite_ref-thesun.co.uk_3-10">[3] , Albania<sup id="cite_ref-bostonglobe.com_2-6">[2] , Serbia<sup id="cite_ref-bostonglobe.com_2-7">[2] , Greece<sup id="cite_ref-bostonglobe.com_2-8">[2]  and Turkey. Those countries experienced temperatures of 40 °C (104 °F) or more, killing at least five people in the process. The remainder of August was very warm, with temperatures around 30 °C (86 °F), but not dangerously hot as it had been earlier on in the month. It fueled dozens of wildfires, damaged crops, reduced water supplies (exacerbating droughts in Sicily, Spain, Parma and Piacenza<sup id="cite_ref-auto2_10-0">[10] ) and strained power supplies.<sup id="cite_ref-auto3_11-0">[11] ) and strained power supplies.<sup id="cite_ref-bostonglobe.com_2-9">[2]

Many unusually high August temperatures were recorded in much of Spain and Portugal, southern France, Italy, the Balkans and Hungary.<sup id="cite_ref-thesun.co.uk_3-11">[3].

Heath issues[edit]
Madrid city's police rescued a dehydrated 16-month-old girl who had been left in a car for 3 hours in sweltering temperatures on July 12th. <sup id="cite_ref-auto2_10-1">[10]

Italian hospital admissions spiked by 15-20% by mid August.<sup id="cite_ref-auto_1-2">[1]

The Belgrade public health institute issued instructions for coping with the heat on August 5th.<sup id="cite_ref-bostonglobe.com_2-10">[2]

Croatian health authorities reported a surge in emergency calls over the week leading up to August 5th.<sup id="cite_ref-bostonglobe.com_2-11">[2]

Spain and Greece issued hot weather warning on the August 5th as temperatures rose.<sup id="cite_ref-bostonglobe.com_2-12">[2]

Animal welfare[edit]
Budapest Zoo's, Beliy and Seriy, a pair of 2-year-old polar bear cubs, were given chunks of ice and freezing-cold watermelons on August 5th.<sup id="cite_ref-bostonglobe.com_2-13">[2]

Belgrade's Animal protection groups urged citizens to help Belgrade’s many stray dogs on August 4th and 5th.<sup id="cite_ref-auto4_12-0">[12] <sup id="cite_ref-bostonglobe.com_2-14">[2]

Disruption[edit]


A part of the famous Stelvio Pass.

The month long drought in the northern agricultural provinces of Parma and Piacenza prompted the government to declare states of emergency, to free up extra funds to tackle the crisis as of the first week in July. <sup id="cite_ref-auto3_11-1">[11]

Athens's authorities shut the Acropolis as temperatures expected to hit 47C July 13th.<sup id="cite_ref-auto2_10-2">[10]  The ministry said all archaeological sites were to be closed between 1pm and 5pm, in temperatures over 39C.<sup id="cite_ref-auto2_10-3">[10]  Athens also opened air-conditioned “friendship clubs” for the elderly and infirm from 8am until 8pm, both coming in top force on July 13th.<sup id="cite_ref-auto2_10-4">[10]

Romanian police banned heavy traffic on major roads in daylight on August 5th and 6th due to the heat, while trains had slowed down also due to the heat. <sup id="cite_ref-bostonglobe.com_2-15">[2]

The Hungarian state railway company said it would distribute water at busy terminals on August 5th.<sup id="cite_ref-bostonglobe.com_2-16">[2]

A train service in southern Serbia also was in the first week in August as the tracks buckled in the heat.<sup id="cite_ref-bostonglobe.com_2-17">[2]

Thousands swam in the city's recreation area, the local lake, the city center fountains, the River Danube or the Sava River on August 5th. <sup id="cite_ref-bostonglobe.com_2-18">[2]

The Italy and Serbia as authorities appealed for care in water consumption as resivoirs ran low on August 5th.<sup id="cite_ref-bostonglobe.com_2-19">[2]

The Stelvio Pass Glacier in Italy, which lies at 3,450 metres, or 11,319ft; was close to skiing for the first time in 90 years, as was most of the southern Swiss Alpine ski resorts On the 15th of August due to the heat.<sup id="cite_ref-auto_1-3">[1].

Florence's Uffizi Gallery was temporarily closed to the public in mid August because of the heat levels.<sup id="cite_ref-auto_1-4">[1]

Tourists entered Rome's Eternal City's Fountains to cool off and were nearly fined by the local police on the 15th of August.<sup id="cite_ref-auto_1-5">[1]

Forest fires[edit]


Smoke plumes over Pedrógão Grande, on 18 June.

The wildfires near the Calampiso seaside resort west of Palermo, forced the evacuation by boat of more than 700 tourists on July 12th<sup id="cite_ref-auto2_10-5">[10]. More bushfires broke out across southern Italy and Sicily, as temperatures hit 40C in the weak leadng up to July 13th.<sup id="cite_ref-auto2_10-6">[10]  About 23 wildfires raged in southern Italy on Wednesday, including on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius near Naples. 2 were north of Mount Etna, in the suburbs of Sicilian city of Catania on the 13th.<sup id="cite_ref-auto2_10-7">[10]  Italy’s environment minister said a man had been arrested on suspicion of arson and Gian Luca Galletti was quoted as saying in Italian media|: “If someone set fire to Vesuvius, I want to see them in jail for 15 years,” on July 13th. 150 hectares of pine forest were destroyed in a blaze in Sicily a month earlyer.<sup id="cite_ref-auto2_10-8">[10]

The June 2017 Portugal wildfires forest fires began in the Pedrógão Grande municipality on June 17-18, before spreading dramatically in the heat and thus causing a firestorm.<sup id="cite_ref-Guardian_1_13-0">[13]  It ended with 64-66 dead, over 250 injured and 40 evacuated villages.<sup id="cite_ref-auto1_4-1">[4]

Some 15 wildfires being in reported in Albania on August 5th and others occurred elsewhere in the Balkans and a few other parts of Southern Europe. <sup id="cite_ref-bostonglobe.com_2-20">[2]

Local and mainland firefighters (including a water bomber aircraft) arrived in Corsica to were fires sweeping across the area of Palneca and it environs. Other smaller fires occurred in the rest of southern Europe amid the deadly heatwave on August 18th.<sup id="cite_ref-auto_1-6">[1]

Recorded temperatures[edit]
Extreme temperatures started to affect parts of the south of the continent from late May, rose in mid-April and peaked on 19–20 April. It ended in August 2017. Many unusually high August temperatures recorded in much of Spain and Portugal, southern France, Italy, the Balkans and Hungary during August.<sup id="cite_ref-thesun.co.uk_3-12">[3].

Slovenian authorities reported the first-ever ‘‘tropical night’’ with a night-time temperature of 68-f at an altitude of 4,900 feet in the mountains during early August.<sup id="cite_ref-bostonglobe.com_2-21">[2]

The pan-European weather service Meteoalarm warned that "major damage and accidents are likely, in many cases with threat to life" in the August<sup id="cite_ref-auto_1-7">[1]  . It issued red alerts (that considered "very dangerous" and meaning "exceptionally intense meteorological phenomena are forecast") for parts of Italy, Switzerland, Croatia and Poland as temperatures rose in August<sup id="cite_ref-auto_1-8">[1]. Western and northern Europe are experiencing colder and wetter weather in early August.<sup id="cite_ref-bostonglobe.com_2-27">[2]

Victim's accounts[edit]
‘‘It is just too much,’’ ‘‘Sometimes it feels as if I cannot breathe.’’ said 52 year old Belgrade real estate agent Sasa Jovanovic.<sup id="cite_ref-bostonglobe.com_2-28">[2]

==Also see==