Europe's third heatwave of 2026 pushes Italy toward 45 degrees, fuels Fontainebleau fire and drives excess deaths

Italy under maximum alert

The third heatwave of the year is entering its most intense phase across Italy. As of 13 July, only two cities were classified under the red-alert 'bollino rosso' health warning. That number rises to four on 14 July and seven on 15 July, with a further nine cities under orange alert, according to the Ministry of Health's heatwave bulletin. Florence and Perugia were already on red alert on Monday, to be joined by Brescia, Bologna, Frosinone, Rome and Turin by mid-week. At 09:30 on Monday morning, Florence's Orto Botanico station recorded 33.5 degrees; nighttime temperatures in the city sat between 22.5 and 23.4 degrees.

Sardinia could hit 45 degrees

The African anticyclone is pushing hot air from Algeria north-eastward into the peninsula, with the most intense heat expected between Tuesday 14 and Wednesday 15 July. Lorenzo Giovannini, atmospheric physicist at the University of Trento, told ANSA that Sardinia and the Tyrrhenian coast will be hardest hit by mid-week. Inland Sardinia is forecast to reach 42 degrees on Tuesday and 45 degrees by Friday 17 July. Much of central and southern Italy will see temperatures between 39 and 41 degrees, while the Po Valley reaches 37 to 38 degrees in the afternoon. At 1500 metres altitude in Sardinia the temperature will remain at 30 degrees, pushing the zero-degree isotherm above 5000 metres. Rome is expected to hit 38 degrees, Florence 39 degrees. Some relief may arrive over the weekend as cooler air enters from the north-east.

Fontainebleau forest engulfed

In France an overnight fire in the Fontainebleau forest south-east of Paris consumed 800 hectares by midnight, an area the ANSA report described as of exceptional proportions. A column of smoke was visible from 20 kilometres away. Fire trucks drove along narrow forest roads and farmers attached water tanks to their tractors to assist. Authorities urged residents to stay indoors to avoid smoke exposure. The A6 motorway was closed and rail traffic interrupted in the Ile-de-France region. France placed 37 departments under red alert for temperatures above 40 degrees.

2,700 excess deaths in the UK; 99 drownings in Germany

In the United Kingdom the Met Office extended heat alerts across almost all of England and Wales, with maximum temperatures above 30 degrees expected to persist for much of the week. The heat contributed to a series of wildfires, the largest of which has been burning since Sunday in the Conwy hills of north Wales, where several hundred people were evacuated from rural communities. ANSA reported that up to 2,700 excess deaths were recorded in the UK during May and June linked to high temperatures. In Germany, 99 drownings were recorded in June alone, a total exceeded only once before, when 107 deaths occurred across the entire summer of 2003.

Outdoor work halted and a rider strike

With red-alert days multiplying, Italy imposed a stop to outdoor work between 12:00 and 16:00. A Greenpeace-CGIL report identified roughly 1.5 million construction and agricultural workers at risk. On 15 July, Glovo and Deliveroo riders in Florence called a strike over low pay and working conditions at the limit during the heatwave. Coldiretti estimated the agro-food sector will see a 30% drop in harvests. On the Po delta, water temperatures have reached 32 degrees, wiping out 90% of clams and triggering mussel die-offs, adding to the damage already caused by the blue crab.