Here’s how our correspondents deal with the heat of southern Europe: “It’s intoxicating here”

Anouk Boone in Rome

“It’s extremely hot this week,” begins Italian correspondent Anouk Boone. “Even when the temperature stays below 40 degrees, the humidity makes it intoxicating. I think twice before going out.”

Sometimes you have to work. When we talk to Boone today, she’s reporting in Tuscany. “Where there is shade, I seek it. I drink a lot and wear linen clothes.”

Little hungry

No pasta on the menu, but salads. “I’m not very hungry now.” Espresso consumption has been significantly reduced.

Where normally the correspondent sometimes gets rid of emails on a terrace, she now does it at home. “With a fan or the AC on. I don’t want to leave it running all day, but I do for a few hours a day now.”

Meteorologist Maurice Middendorp from Buienradar says the temperature peak in Italy will be reached today or tomorrow. Sardinia is the hottest place in the country: “Both days it seems to be 46 degrees”.

This is not an absolute record: “On August 11, 2021, a temperature of 48.8 degrees was also measured in Sicily. Previously, this had not been recognized as an official record by the World Meteorological Organization, but it happened last night.”

Record or not, it’s “intense”, notes Boone. And yet, the front pages of Italian newspapers pay remarkably little attention to extreme temperatures. “It’s now the third summer in a row that it’s been very hot. Italians are of course more used to keeping the shutters closed.”

Moreover, climate change is not a priority on the Italian political agenda: “This ensures that the alarm bell does not ring very loudly here.”

In the Spanish Andújar in Andalusia, it was 44.8 degrees yesterday. This is no longer achieved today, says Middendorp van Buienradar. “The worst heat has shifted somewhat to the northeast, into Catalonia. Inland, near Barcelona, ​​it can still be 42 degrees.”

Richard Hogenkamp in Madrid

Correspondent Richard Hogenkamp says it’s hottest in his hometown of Madrid between 5 and 6 p.m. “The sun’s power and temperature are higher earlier in the day, but that heat is retained between buildings. In the late afternoon, I stay indoors, with the air conditioning on.”

Hogenkamp must also take to the streets for his work, hot or not. “I always walk on the shady side of the street.”

In the video below, Hogenkamp has already talked about “desertification” in Spain due to climate change.

A heat protocol is in effect in Madrid, as in many other places at the moment. “The municipality constantly warns people: wear a cap or a hat, drink at least two liters of water.” Working against deadlines, the correspondent sometimes forgets these tips a little: “When I get home, I suddenly realize how dry my mouth is and that I have to refuel a lot.”

Hogenkamp does not want to leave the air conditioning on at night. “It will be around 27 degrees in the bedroom. I’m not really resting. Running is also a bit of a chore for that reason now. I don’t feel like doing that in the morning, it’s that hot early.”

The “hot air bubble”, as Middendorp describes it, is slowly heading towards Greece and Turkey. The highest temperatures are expected there this weekend. “In the south-west of Turkey, below Izmir, it can then reach 45 degrees. The same is true for the area around Athens inside Greece.”

Olaf Koens in Istanbul

Correspondent Olaf Koens lives in the Turkish city of Istanbul, which is partly in Europe. The temperature there is now much lower, with a high this weekend of around 35 degrees. But still: “It’s scorching hot here.”

Koens has been a correspondent in the Middle East for years and is also seasoned in terms of temperatures. “Of course you adapt, you have to.” He organizes appointments early in the morning and in the afternoon. “I always seek shade outside. And I don’t leave the house for things that I can also arrange online.”

And further: “My grandmother always said: water, water, water and the rest will come later. They don’t see me walking around in shorts or a shirt either. I wear a long-sleeved shirt. bit.”

point of contention

Koens isn’t keeping tabs on weather apps in view of the upcoming peak. “These apps are the big bone of contention between my wife and me,” he laughs. “She keeps an eye on everything. And he? “I put my head out the window, I look at the weather and I go out. I apply myself very well.”

When it’s really too hot, Koens has the ultimate refreshing trick up his sleeve: “I make a kind of half-turban with a t-shirt. Then you can pour half a liter of water over it. It drips a little, but it chills you deliciously.”