“This is not normal. I don’t remember such intense heat, especially at this time of year,” said Federico Bratti, sunbathing on Lake Garda.
In Spain, meteorologists warned of the risk of forest fires and said it would not be easy to sleep through the night, with temperatures unlikely to drop below 25°C across the country.
The heat wave will intensify from Monday, with temperatures reaching 44°C in the Guadalquivir valley near Seville in the south of the country, forecasters forecast.
On the Spanish island of La Palma, in the Canaries, at least 4,000 people had to be evacuated by an out-of-control forest fire due to the heat wave, according to authorities.
According to meteorologists, in the coming days the highest temperature recorded in Europe could be exceeded, of 48.8ºC, registered in Sicily two years ago, especially on the Italian island of Sardinia.
The heat wave has spread across the Mediterranean to Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was hospitalized on Saturday suffering from dizziness and apparent dehydration. He was released on Sunday.
“I ask all of you to spend less time in the sun, drink more water, and may we all have a good new week,” he said.
High temperatures were also recorded in the United States, with almost a quarter of the population under alert for extreme heat, from the Pacific Northwest, through California, the Southwest and to the deep South and Florida.