BBC Weather: Warm tempertatures to continue across Europe
The extreme heatwave has already seen temperatures reach above 40C (104F) in many areas this summer. Meteorologists now expect the blistering hot weather to continue into the week ahead, which could make it the most severe since the 1980s. The latest weather maps from WxCHARTS show swathes of deep shades of black, orange and red hot air spreading over the the Iberian peninsula over the next seven days of August.
Marko Korosec, lead forecaster at Severe Weather EU, also warned of highs of 46C baking parts of southern Europe, potentially worsening “dangerous wildfire threats”.
He said: “Parts of Europe are now forecast to be baked with yet another intense heatwave this summer.
“A massive heat dome is expected to lock in the weather pattern across the southern parts of the continent, centred over the Mediterranean.
“This will result in excessive scorching heat, with the highest temperatures expected across Italy, Malta and Greece through mid-week then intensifying over Spain and Portugal for the weekend.
Heatwave forecast: Parts of Europe could see highs of 46C (Image: WXCHARTS)
“The peak temperatures will be up to around 46C for several days and worsen the ongoing significant drought conditions as well as becoming even more favourable for dangerous wildfire threats.
“A heat dome is a term that is used when a large area of high pressure is parked over a large portion of the continent and stays there for days or even weeks as we could see this summer.”
BBC Weather meteorologist Chris Fawkes added parts of Spain could see temperatures climb into the scorching 40Cs this week.
He said: “We’ve got a north-south split with the weather in Europe at the moment.
READ MORE: BBC Weather: European heatwave expands as UK temperatures rise
Heatwave forecast: The extreme heatwave has already seen temperatures reach above 40C this summer (Image: WXCHARTS)
“In northern areas, we’ve got showers or longer spells of rain for many countries.
“Meanwhile in the Mediterranean, generally it is hotter as the heatwave continues.
“Of course they’ve got the wildfire concern in Greece.
“Actually, that wildfire is spreading extensive smoke and hazy skies into neighbouring areas of ventral Greece, so areas like Skiathos having poor visibility due to the wildfire smoke blowing.
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Heatwave forecast: Wildfires are spreading extensive smoke and hazy skies into neighbouring areas of ventral Greece (Image: WXCHARTS)
“Over the next few days, there will be a tendency to see few showers across north Europe as pressure starts to build.
“But in the south of Europe it continues to be hot with the heat tending to transfer westwards.
“In Madrid, we’re picking up temperatures in the 40Cs towards the end of the week, with similar conditions lasting into the weekend.
“In fact, it is going to be very hot across most of Spain really.”
Heatwave forecast: Authorities in Greece, Turkey, Serbia and Bulgaria are warning residents to avoid direct sunlight (Image: WXCHARTS)
It comes after several recent wildfires in Turkey left a dozen people dead and more than 50 people in hospital, with villages and beach resorts being evacuated across the south of the country.
Authorities in Greece, Turkey, Serbia and Bulgaria, and many other countries in the region, are now warning residents to avoid direct sunlight during daylight hours.
Authorities in Greece also warned the public to avoid unnecessary journeys on Friday as temperatures rose to 40C (104 F) in Athens.
Mike Kendon, the senior climate scientist at the UN World Meteorological Office (WMO) said the extreme weather is expected to become more frequent due to climate change creating chaos in weather patterns.
Heatwave forecast: The extreme weather could potentially worsen “dangerous wildfire threats” (Image: WXCHARTS)
He said: “If we think more globally, we’ve had some very, very severe weather events recently, 49.6C (121.28 F), an all-time temperature record in Canada.
“When you see observations like that, they are taking us outside our own envelope of experience of what we have seen before.
“An event like that is simply not possible to explain without the human influence on the climate system.”
