Heatwave Lucifer testing southern Europe

It’s been a testing summer of weather so far for many Europeans. The heat wave sweeping across parts of Europe nicknamed Lucifer is expected to affect Greece with vengeance next, with temperatures rising as high as 41 degrees. Western Greece will feel it worst, while the rest of the country will experience temperatures between 38 and 40 degrees.

High temperatures across Italy over the past weeks have already taken their toll on the country’s glaciers, with a summer ski resort at the Stelvio Pass having to make the historic decision to suspend its activities due to worsening conditions.

Three dead as storms strike across northern Italy https://t.co/SkJb79htPG pic.twitter.com/tuLJdMCSaS— The Local Italy (@TheLocalItaly) August 7, 2017


But after the sun came the rains across northern Italy over the weekend. Several people died in freak accidents, including a woman whose car was buried by a landslide, two men killed by falling trees and one from a lightning strike.

The aftermath of the heatwave also proved a problem for Austria, with very bad storms across the country causing widespread flooding and landslides with knock-on effects on the roads and public transport. Clean-up operations have been underway ever since.