On the Italian island of Sicily, Palermo airport was closed for a few hours due to forest fires, and extreme weather conditions continue to ravage the country, writes Reuters.
At nine o’clock on the morning of Tuesday, the 25th of July, Palermo airport reported that only certain outbound flights will be operated temporarily. Later, however, an incoming flight from Turin in Northern Italy successfully landed at the airport.
The airport was closed while firefighters tried to control a large fire nearby, which also disrupted rail and road traffic.
The temporary closure of the airport is another straw in Sicily’s woes at the busiest time of the tourist season. The island’s main airport, Catania, was closed last week after a fire broke out in the terminal building and received only a few flights.
Southern Europe has been hit by the next heat wave, and the scorching air temperatures are increasing the risk of fire and harming people’s health, even endangering lives.
In some places in the eastern part of Sicily, the temperature reached 47.6 degrees Celsius on the 24th of July.
On the 25th of July, Italy announced a red alert in 16 cities. Among them are Palermo and Catania, whose residents have been experiencing regular power and water outages in recent days, which officials attribute in part to the heat wave.
Meanwhile, in Milan, the storm ripped off roofs and felled trees overnight, blocking roads and disrupting traffic. Two women have been killed by falling trees in the northern provinces of Italy. The mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, wrote on social networks that he has experienced 65 summers in his life and what he sees now is not normal.
Read also: In Greece, fires ravage forests and force people to flee their homes