Cerberus unleashed: Southern Europe braces for intensifying heat wave

Tourists in central Athens huddled under mist machines and zoo animals in Madrid were fed fruit popsicles Thursday as southern Europeans suffered through a heat wave that was projected to get much worse heading into the weekend. Above: A bear eats frozen fruits on a hot and sunny day at the Madrid Zoo, Spain.

Temperatures in parts of Mediterranean Europe were forecast to reach as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 F) starting Friday. Above: An orangutan licks a treat on a hot and sunny day at the Madrid Zoo, Spain. Above: People cool off with water mist at at the Madrid Zoo, Spain.

The high-pressure system affecting the region, which crossed the Mediterranean from north Africa, has been named Cerberus after the three-headed dog in ancient Greek mythology who guarded the gates to the underworld. Officials in several countries were preparing emergency measures, cellphone alerts and adjustments to staffing levels. Above: Visitors walk near the Parthenon temple atop the Acropolis hill, during a heatwave in Athens, Greece.

In Athens and other Greek cities, working hours were changed for the public sector and many businesses to avoid the midday heat, while air-conditioned areas were opened to the public. Cerberus is being tracked by the European Space Agency, which warned that the heat wave will also be felt in parts of northern Europe. Above: A visitor is affected by the heat atop the Acropolis hill, during a heatwave in Athens, Greece.

In the Arctic, a record high temperature of 28.8 degrees Celsius (83.8 degrees F) was measured at Slettness Fyr on the northern tip of the Norway, Norwegian meteorologists said Thursday. This tops a previous record from July 1964 when the thermometer reached 27.6 degrees Celsius (81.7 degrees F). The United Nation’s World Meteorological Organization on Monday said global temperatures recorded in early July were among the hottest on record. Above: Tourists shelter from the sun with umbrellas near the Colosseum in Rome, Italy.

As Spain's politicians fret about how the high temperatures might affect turnout in a general election this month, animals in Madrid’s Zoo were being treated this week to frozen food to cool off amid the sweltering heat. Zookeepers fed pandas and bears with watermelon popsicles, seals with frozen sardines and lions with frozen buckets of meat.

Television ads in Italy reminded city dwellers to look after their pets and check in regularly with elderly relatives. Authorities were awaiting an autopsy of a 44-year-old roadworker who collapsed near Milan and later died in hospital. Storms overnight felled trees in an Italian region bordering Slovenia and Austria, while baseball size hail fell in valleys near Bergamo in Lombardy. Above: A woman cools off with a mini fan in Rome, Italy is hit by a heatwave.

Rainfall provided some respite in Croatia, but evacuation orders were issued in several areas as a wildfire swept through coastal areas of the country. Above: A boy jumps to cool off in the river Treska near Skopje as temperatures reach about 40 degrees Celsius.

In North Macedonia, the high heat triggered a spike in emergency calls for health assistance, while residents in Kosovo, which is also landlocked, flocked to an artificial beach near the capital Pristina. Authorities in Cyprus urged the Mediterranean island's residents to avoid forest areas where wildfires could be caused unintentionally. Above: A runner cools down with water in Skopje, North Macedonia.

Meanwhile, emergency services in nearby Turkey also grappled with simultaneous fires and floods. Flooding in the northern Black Sea coast claimed three lives. In the southwest Milas region, 26 water-dropping planes and helicopters helped 600 firefighters contain a wildfire.