Cerberus heatwave: European data shows land temperatures are scorching

The heatwave affecting southern Europe has been building for months. And it’s about to get much worse.

Temperatures have been consistently above 40C since mid-April in many areas.

Europe heatwave – latest: Continent could have hottest day ever

But on the Mediterranean islands of Sicily and Sardinia they’re expected to climb to 48C in the coming days, and could even break the continent‘s record of 48.8C set in August 2021.

And those are just air temperatures. New data shows the ground is even hotter.

The European Space Agency’s heat-sensing satellite Copernicus detected land surface temperatures have already exceeded 45C across large areas of Italy (shown as dark red on ESA’s animation).

Along the eastern slopes of Mount Etna, the volcano on Sicily, the sun-baked earth passed 50C on 9 and 10 July.

And that was in the late morning. The temperature would have been even higher in the afternoon – and likely hotter still as the heatwave has intensified through the week.

Read more: Why is Europe being hit by the Cerberus heatwave and when will it end?

The ground temperature matters.

In rural areas it raises the risk of wildfires because the vegetation dries out faster.

And in urban areas, concrete, brick and road surfaces retain the heat overnight so the air doesn’t cool as much as in the surrounding countryside.

It’s called the heat island effect and it raises the risk of vulnerable people dying.