A sweeping heatwave, fueled by a strengthening North African subtropical anticyclone hovering over the Mediterranean, has pushed most of Italy’s major urban centers into the country’s highest temperature risk category, triggering urgent public health warnings across the continent as wildfires rage through multiple southern European nations.
Italian health authorities confirmed Saturday that 19 cities stretching from the northern industrial hub of Milan to the southern metropolis of Naples, including the capital Rome and canal city Venice, are already under a red alert for extreme heat. By the start of the coming week, that number will jump to 25 of Italy’s 27 major population centers, leaving only two locations – Reggio Calabria on the southern tip of the Italian mainland and the Sicilian city of Messina – on the second-highest amber warning level.
Officials stress that the risk of heat-related illness extends beyond traditionally vulnerable groups, which include older adults, infants and young children, and people living with chronic medical conditions. Even healthy, physically active people face dangerous health impacts from the current conditions, they warn. Residents in high-risk areas have been instructed to stay indoors between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., avoid prolonged exposure to heat and direct sunlight, and maintain steady hydration to prevent heat stroke and other heat-related emergencies.
Italy’s extreme heat alert comes as a cascade of overlapping heatwaves across the continent has created tinder-dry conditions ideal for the spread of destructive wildfires. Across Greece, France, Portugal and Spain, thousands of firefighters are working around the clock to contain blazes that have already burned hundreds of thousands of hectares of land.
In southeastern France, local authorities reported Friday evening that a wildfire that had been contained for several days reignited in the Var region, forcing the evacuation of roughly 2,500 residents and visitors. In the southwestern Gironde region, by contrast, a large wildfire that displaced hundreds of thousands of people has finally been brought under control, allowing roughly 200,000 evacuated residents to return to their homes over the weekend.
In Greece, hundreds of people, the majority of whom were traveling tourists, were evacuated by sea from the coastal town of Viotia after wildfires surrounded the area, cutting off overland escape routes. EU climate data shows that 2026 is already on track to be an unprecedented year for wildfire damage across the Iberian Peninsula: Spain has seen more than 200,000 hectares of land burned by August, a total roughly five times the average amount burned over the same period in a typical year. Portugal has also recorded far more burned area than the seasonal average.
The cascading extreme weather events align with long-term climate trends documented by leading scientific bodies. The Copernicus Climate Change Service confirms that climate change is driving global temperature increases, and Europe is warming faster than any other continent – heating at twice the rate of the global average. This accelerated warming has triggered a steady rise in the frequency and intensity of summer heatwaves, increased strain on regional water supplies, and created more favorable conditions for large, destructive wildfires across the continent.