Climate crisis: The hottest weekend in Greece and devastating storms in Serbia resulting in deaths and injuries

While Greece is experiencing its hottest weekend in 50 years, a storm is unfolding a thousand kilometers to the northwest with rain and wind that has claimed lives and caused damage. The crazy climate of summer 2023 is affecting much of Europe.

In Greece, the current week of July is the hottest in 50 years, with temperatures that can reach 45 degrees Celsius and the risk of fires. Therefore, the most important tourist sites, such as the Acropolis in Athens, have decided to close to visitors during the hottest hours of the day. The government, on the other hand, has urged to work from home remotely for anyone who can do so and avoid unnecessary travel.

The latest data from the Greek State Meteorological Service (Hnms), central and eastern regions of Greece are expected to see temperatures of up to 44 degrees Celsius on Saturday. Central Greece could face even more heat on Sunday, where temperatures will rise to 45 degrees Celsius. After a slight decline on Monday, a new heat wave is expected Tuesday. Greek officials fear it could be one of the most severe heat waves since the summer of 1987, when hundreds of people were linked to deaths from extreme weather.

At the same time, a thousand kilometers to the north, central Serbia is facing bad weather that has hit the Vojvodina region in the north of the country. In the night from Friday to Saturday, a strong storm with heavy rains, hail and strong winds hit Novi Sad and the Belgrade area, claiming two lives and affecting about thirty people.

Before arriving in Serbia, the storm, developing amid the heat and hot temperatures of recent days, had already brought hurricane-force winds, heavy snowfall and significant property damage in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Last Wednesday, the same Balkan countries were hit by a similar wave of summer weather that killed four people and injured dozens.

The heat wave is simultaneously stifling Malta, where temperatures have hovered around 40 degrees Celsius since the beginning of this week and are expected to reach 42 degrees Celsius on Sunday, making life on the island difficult due to prolonged power outages, especially due to overheating underground cables, according to Enemalta (the state-owned power utility). "This is an unprecedented situation," said Jonathan Cardona, the company's executive director, specifying that 42 outages were recorded in 5 days, affecting the main island of the archipelago. Social media is overflowing with protests from private citizens, businesses, stores, bars and restaurants forced to throw away all food supplies while many people are forced to sleep outdoors or on boats at sea. The Mount Carmel Psychiatric Clinic recorded panicked moments when she was left completely without lights for hours. Cardona said 80 workers are employed on 24-hour shifts to fix the problems and "the situation is improving." However, many areas, such as the historic towns of Vittoriosa, Calcara, Zabbar and Cottonera, have remained without power since midnight Thursday through Friday, a period of nearly 48 hours.