‘Lucifer’ Heat Wave Scorches Mediterranean; Dozens Die in Wildfires
Voice of America
LONDON - The extreme heat in the Mediterranean region continued to trigger wildfires, with dozens of people killed in Algeria, Greece, Italy and Turkey in recent days. The weather system, nicknamed "Lucifer," has unleashed record temperatures, and on Thursday it was moving slowly west toward Spain and Portugal.
A weather station near the town of Syracuse in southeast Sicily registered what could be Europe’s highest recorded temperature Wednesday, at 48.8 degrees Celsius (119.8 F). The record had yet to be verified by the World Meteorological Organization. Fire crews said forests and fields, baked to tinder by the intense heat, were easily ignited by such things as a discarded cigarette or concentration of the sun's rays by a shard of glass. Horrifying sight
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