During Europe’s oppressive summer, a storm that affected much of the Balkans claimed at least six lives and injured dozens of others.
The region had experienced two strong storms in as many days, the most recent of which made landfall yesterday. The continent was experiencing an extremely hot and dry spell at the time.
In Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, two men—ages 50 and 48—died after being struck by falling trees.
Elsewhere, in the eastern town of Tovarnik, a firefighter died but no other details have been revealed about this.
There is one other person known to have died in Croatia, another in Slovenia and one more in Bosnia.
Meanwhile, a 36-year-old man in Zagreb was severely injured after a construction crane collapsed in the chaos.
In the Serbian city of Novi Sad, a tree fell on a 12-year-old girl and she had to be taken to hospital.
The country’s emergency services have had to put out 20 fires caused by thunder and lightning.
Meteorologists have warned that more storms may hit over the next few days, before the next upcoming wave of hot weather they are expecting.
It comes as there is no sign of Europe’s heatwave slowing down anytime soon, with temperatures set to climb even higher.
After days of sweating through Cerberus, people in the south of the continent – with Greece, Italy and Spain bearing the brunt of the weather – have now begun to feel the effects of its equally scorching successor Charon.
And it’s expected to peak in Italy, where temperatures of up to 47°C are expected to roast Sardinia on Wednesday, July 19.
The unprecedented weather has had a dramatic effect, with holidaymakers evacuated from resorts in the area surrounding Athens after wildfires broke out – made worse by a cooling wind that provided some respite for locals and visitors.
Reports have suggested the Charon heatwave – which has replaced the original Cerberus spell of hot weather – will stick around until at least the end of July.
Experts from the UN agency have suggested the hot weather could even last for weeks, saying: ‘A further continuation into August is likely.’
There may however be some respite for people in some parts of Spain and Italy – where things are about to become a little less stifling.
Meanwhile, the BBC reports that red alerts will be removed from some cities in the north of Italy on Thursday – although other regions will continue to experience soaring temperatures.
Sicily holds the record for Europe’s highest official temperature ever, after meteorologists measured 48.8°C in the town of Floridia in August 2021 – and the World said yesterday it is possible this record may be broken in the coming days.