Cerberus heatwave: 37°C in Malta on Saturday, 16 Italian cities issue red alert

The ‘Cerberus’ heatwave that’s currently spreading all over Southern Europe is intensifying, and 16 Italian cities have already issued a red alert for extreme heat.

Malta’s highest temperature on Saturday reached at least 37°C and is expected to feel reach and feel like 40°C in the coming days.

The Meteorological Office issued an orange alert for Sunday, as the maximum temperature is expected to reach 38°C.

The heatwave was named Cerberus by the Italian Meteorological Society, after the three-headed monster that features in Dante's Inferno.

The Italian government has advised anyone in the red alert areas to avoid direct sunlight between 11am and 6pm and to take particular care of the elderly or vulnerable.

Greece was also hit by Cerberus, with temperatures reaching 40°C. The Acropolis in Athens was closed during the hottest hours of Friday and Saturday to protect visitors.

Highs of up to 47°C are expected across parts of southern Spain, south-eastern Italy and possibly Greece later in the week.

Last month was the hottest June on record, according to the EU's climate monitoring service Copernicus. The hottest temperature ever recorded in Europe was 48.8°C in Sicily in August 2021.

Earlier this week, a new study revealed more than 61,000 people died in Europe last summer as a result of extreme heat.

An area of high pressure is trapped over the southern Mediterranean, in Spain in particular, and clouds of Saharan dust are also making conditions worse.

Another contributing factor is unusually high sea surface temperatures, which means that cooler air is not blowing inland off the Mediterranean.