All-time record heat envelops southeast Europe
An already-hot summer has kicked into overdrive over a large swath of southeast Europe, where one of the worst droughts in decades has taken hold this summer. Temperatures again soared above 100°F on Thursday across large sections of drought-ravaged Italy. On Tuesday, the iconic city of Florence set an all-time high of 41.3°C (106.3°F), topping its record of 41.1°C (106.0°F) from 2003, according to Italy's Servizio Meteorologico. All-time records were also set on Tuesday in Perugia, L’Aquila, and Potenza, and on Wednesday in Campobasso.
Croatia’s second-largest city, Split, had the hottest day in its weather history on Wednesday. Split’s high of 42.3°C (108.1°F) handily broke the previous all-time high of 40.0°C (104°F) set on July 18, 2015. Croatia’s meteorological service, Crometeo, reported 10 other all-time highs set across the nation on Wednesday.