Some Britons are reportedly cancelling their European vacations – because the holiday hotspots are too hot.

It comes as tourists reportedly collapsed and fainted in Italy and Greece due to the severe heat afflicting southern Europe.  Greece has started mass evacuations due to wildfires as temperatures in Athens rose above 40c.

And even hotter weather is forecast for next week, with Italy expected to be the hardest hit by a new extreme weather front. An even more intense anticyclone named ‘Charon’ reached Europe from North Africa on Sunday night.  

Read more… Every wildfire raging now mapped as Spain, Greece and Italy face crisis

Now, GB News and the Mail Online are among those reporting that the heatwave has convinced some Brits to make last-minute cancellations and opt for getaways closer to home.  However, on social media, many have dismissed the reports as scare-mongering – and expressed doubts about people cancelling their holidays. 

Meanwhile, Brits in Benidorm have been pictured loving the sunshine, and keeping cool with cold beers and misty sprays.  

Nonetheless, authorities in Greece issued evacuation orders for at least six seaside communities as two major wildfires edged closer to summer resort towns and gusts of wind hit 70kph (45mph).  The army, police special forces and volunteer rescuers freed retirees from their homes, rescued horses from a stable, and helped monks flee a monastery threatened by the flames.

Water-dropping planes and helicopters tackled the flames near Lagonisi, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) south east of Athens.  A second large wildfire broke out in a wooded area near the resort town of Loutraki, some 90 kilometres (55 miles) west of the capital, where a children’s summer camp and rehabilitation centre for seniors were evacuated, local officials said.

The evacuees gathered along the coastline or were put up in schools and hotels, while coast guard vessels were dispatched to smoke-heavy beachfronts to assist if needed. Greater Athens and much of southern Greece were on the second highest level of alert for wildfires on Monday and Tuesday following a four-day heatwave that eased over the weekend.

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And  Italian health officials have intensified heat warnings as southern Europe began a brutally hot week, with temperatures expected to top 40C (104F) on the continent.  The mercury in Rome hit 39C (102F) on Monday afternoon.

The Italian capital is expected to be even hotter on Tuesday, as were several other cities, particularly in Sardinia and Sicily.  Power outages were hitting parts of Rome as electric grids suffered under heavier demand from air conditioners as people sought relief.

In Spain, a wildfire that started on Saturday on the Canary island of La Palma continued to burn out of control on Monday, although authorities says weaker winds and cooler temperatures in the area are helping firefighters combat it.  The blaze has burned some 4,600 hectares (11,300 acres) of mostly woody hill land and some 20 houses and buildings.

Spain’s Aemet weather agency said the heat wave this week “will affect a large part of the countries bordering the Mediterranean” with temperatures in some southern areas of Spain exceeding 42C (107F).

The agency said it expects temperatures to drop some time on Wednesday.  Spokesman Ruben del Campo said an anticyclone is pushing a hot mass of air from Africa towards Spain and other Mediterranean countries.

Authorities in North Macedonia extended a heat alert for the next 10 days with predicted temperatures topping 43C (109F), while Kosovo authorities also issued heat warnings.  “Never in my life have I experienced heat like this before in Pristina,” said Artan Kelani, a 22-year-old student.

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