Europe is set to hit the hottest temperatures in history

EUROPE – Parts of Europe could be hit by their hottest ever temperatures next week after meteorologists issued a dire warning that the blistering heat could reaching 48C – threatening people, livestock and crops. The continent is already in the grip of a sweltering heatwave ‘Cerberus’ – named after the three-headed dog that guards the gates of Hades (hell) in Greek mythology – which has pushed the mercury into the high 40s after a weather system from the Sahara moved into southern Europe.

The anticyclone, which has pushed north in recent days, has caused life-threatening wildfires in Croatia, while tourists and locals trapped in the boiling temperatures have struggled to cope as the mercury gets set to rise above 45C in Spain, Italy, Greece and Turkey by the end of next week. Ominously, experts are saying the next torturous bout of extreme heat, which will be named ‘Charon’ – after the boatman who carries the souls of the dead to Hades in Greek mythology – is set to come only days later and this time records could be broken.

Forecasters are warning the all-time temperature record of 48.8C, which was set in Italy in August 2021, could be threatened with the mercury set to reach those heights once again on the Italian islands of Sicily and Sardinia.